Welcome to my author website!
I’m glad you’re here and hope you’ll be able to linger awhile. As a teacher for over thirty years, I spent each day surrounded by young children and good books. I loved to meet authors and hear their stories, but it wasn’t until I retired that I began to seriously write myself. I guess you could call me a late bloomer. Writing has opened a new world of relationships, learning and adventure that I found I love. So be my guest. Come on in!
Fondly,
Barb
Looking for an inspiring adventure?
Step aboard as my husband, Gene, and I paddle the tandem kayak we built from the Headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Experience the moods and magnetism of America’s greatest waterway and the kindness and generosity of folks who live alongside it. Pause with us to volunteer with charitable organizations in quaint river towns and be inspired by passionate people from all walks of life who give their time and effort to support and encourage others.
All of the author profits from the sale of this book are donated annually to the charities we served on the trip. You can find more information about this memoir, including photo galleries and an interactive map of our journey at www.paddleforapurpose.net.
Available Now!
Poem Collection Published by Finishing Line Press
Mississippi Meanderings
The 30 poems in this collection are musings about our experiences as we traveled down the “Big Muddy” and the Tenn/Tom Waterway from Itasca, Minnesota to Mobile, Alabama. You’ll be awed by river wildlife and sand island sunsets, fascinated by mammoth barges and pearl button factories, and entertained with poems of mishap and moonshine.
A photo gallery accompanying the poems in the collection can be found under the Photos tab above. You can also download a free discussion guide with optional writing prompts here.
Our Latest Adventure
After paddling the Mississippi, Gene and I temporarily traded our paddles for pedals and reignited our love of bicycling. The past nine summers, we’ve biked near home in the Great Cycle Challenge to help support the Children’s Cancer Research Fund and have hosted cross-country cyclists through the Warm Showers organization. (You can read more about these organizations on my Charity Spotlight blogs at http://www.paddleforapurpose.net.) For our latest adventure, during the spring and summer of 2022, we left Key West to ride our bikes up the East Coast Greenway Trail to Calais, Maine. We posted about our trip at https://fb.me/2OldFolksOnBikes. Considering our user name above, we took our time: meeting people, seeing the sights, and collecting lots of story and poem ideas along the way.
Appearances
- On Monday, April 6th, Gene and I presented a program at the monthly meeting of the New Sociables, a women’s social organization in the Twin Cities area, which offers a variety of activities from games, bike rides and book clubs to volunteer service work. We shared stories about the kayak service trip that changed our lives and began my writing journey with the memoir, Paddle for a Purpose. Thank you, New Sociables, for welcoming us so warmly!
- On May 17th, my poem, “The Magic of a Box,” was one of the featured poems at the Waukesha Choral Union Concert, In Verse and Voice: Choral Reflections on the Poetry of Waukesha County. Poems of Kathie Giorgio, Mary Ann Noe, Patty Schopp, Richard Hedderman were also featured, along with choral works selected to reflect or expand on themes found in the poetry. Thank you to the Waukesha Choral Union and their gifted conductor, Danielle Bridges, for the opportunity to collaborate in such a creative and fun way!
- During the week of June 21-27, I will be participating in the Janesville Book Fest 2026, a collaboration between the Hedberg Public Library and Downtown Janesville, Inc. Authors have been paired with businesses in Janesville downtown area on days during the week to hold events with their partner businesses. I’ll be working at a lovely art gallery called, Raven’s Wish, to offer a Poetry and Art Scavenger Hunt, on Friday, June 26th, from 10-2. Participants will get to read excerpts of my poems about the Mississippi River and find art pieces in the gallery that relate to each poem. A great way to look more closely at art by many talented artists who display their work at Raven’s Wish! And all scavenger hunters will get a coupon worth $1 off either of my books!
- On Saturday, June 27th, I’ll be signing books inside Raven’s Wish, in downtown Janesville, as the Book Fest winds up with authors during the Farmer’s Market, from 8:30-1. Many thanks to gallery owner, Kegane Rynes, for hosting me! Come on down, peruse the market, make friends with authors you haven’t met, and pick up a couple new summer reads!
Author Barb Geiger 