The Creative Spark

The creative spark resides in all of us, but some activate that spark more than others. In 50-plus interviews, musicians, authors, explorers and chefs speak about what drives them, how they see in fresh ways, and what inspires them to turn their visions into art.

Independent Publisher Book Awards Bronze Winner in Performing Arts (Music/Dance/Cinema/Theater)
Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Medal Winner
Independent Publisher Book Awards finalist for A Sense of Place
Winner of the Bedford Pace Grand Award and Lowell Thomas Award
Michael Shapiro is a heralded journalist known for the keen insight he brings to interviews. Working for leading newspapers (Washington Post, New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle) and national magazines (National Geographic Traveler, American Way, Hemispheres), Shapiro has interviewed many of the most creative people of our time.
He-s become known for his ability to forge personal connections with artists such as Smokey Robinson, Lucinda Williams, David Sedaris, Graham Nash, Melissa Etheridge, Amy Tan, and Lyle Lovett. These renowned innovators and many others share the secrets of their creative processes in The Creative Spark.
Shapirös previous book, A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration (Travelers- Tales) is a collection of interviews with the world-s top travel authors, including Bill Bryson, Pico Iyer, Jan Morris, Paul Theroux, Simon Winchester, Peter Matthiessen, and Frances Mayes.
In 2017, Shapiro delivered a TEDx talk entitled -The Space Between- about how travel can narrow the gaps between people all over the globe and why that-s more important than ever. A native of New York, Shapiro graduated from U.C. Berkeley with high honors and now lives with his wife in Sonoma County, Calif.
His National Geographic Traveler feature, about Jan Morris- corner of Wales, won the Bedford Pace grand award. His story about sustainable seafood in Vancouver earned the 2016 Explore Canada Award of Excellence in the culinary category. He has contributed several in-depth interviews to The Sun, a literary magazine, including conversations with oral historian Studs Terkel and oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Both are in The Creative Spark.
Shapiro has written about the Naadam festival in Mongolia for the Washington Post, tasted tequila in Jalisco for American Way, and spoken with Jane Goodall for O the Oprah Magazine. From 2011 to 2018, he wrote a weekly column about gambling for the San Francisco Chronicle and for four years had a column in the Chronicle-s travel section.
He volunteers as a whitewater rafting guide and sea kayak trip leader for Environmental Traveling Companions, a San Francisco-based group that takes physically challenged people on outdoor adventures. In 2016, he co-led a river trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, rowing his wife and others through the river-s fiercest rapids, including Lava Falls.