Jan Morris (1926-November 20, 2020), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded November 16, 2001 while she was on tour for “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere.”
Jan Morris was a noted travel writer and historian, and a leading figure in the trans world. As James Morris, she accompanied Edmund Hillary on the first expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. Before and after her transition in 1964 to the time of her death, Jan Morris had published 18 travel books, six history books including a three volume history of the British Empire, eight memoirs including the best-selling Conundrum, two novels and twelve collections of essays.
True to her word in the interview, “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” was the last full-length book Jan Morris would write. Collections of new and old essays were published in 2004 and 2010, an illustrated essay on the Battleship Yamoto in 2018, and two volumes of late in life diaries were published, the first in 2018, “In My Mind’s Eye,” and posthumously in 2021, “Thinking Again.”
Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff interviewed her twice; the first time on August 8, 1999 while she was in San Francisco for a conference, and here now, a second time on November 16, 2001 while on tour for “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere.” This interview was digitized, remastered and edited in November, 2020 by Richard Wolinsky. The complete interview has never been published or aired until now.