How a Lafayette Hill Native Sailed the Atlantic, Assessed Two Hurricanes, and Wrote a Global-Warming Book

By

margie smith holt and book
Images via Amazon.
Margie Smith Holt and her memoir.

If there’s a takeaway to the adventurous story of Margie Smith Holt — who grew up in Lafayette Hill and graduated Plymouth Whitemarsh High School and New York University— it’s this: Once a good storyteller, always a good storyteller.

Holt, now living in Ocean City, N.J., spent much of her career in Philadelphia journalism, reporting for PHL17, CBS3 Philadelphia, and KYW Newsradio, and other outlets.

Just prior to turning 40, she threw her traditional life and career overboard.

Holt moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands with her husband/business partner, worked flipping burgers, and took up sailing.

On a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean in a 30-foot vessel with no engine and no bathroom, she encountered the aftermath of two Category 5 hurricanes.

She was never endangered; the storms had already moved on.

But the experience of their effects compelled her to write about global warming that caused the violent storms residents endured.

Her memoir, Not on Any Map, was released in January 2023.

William Knoedelseder’s New York Times review called it, “A great, important book — a memoir, a love letter, a farewell-to-paradise-in-the-face-of-climate-change story — combining reporting chops and poetry, both of which Holt has in boatloads.”

Not on Any Map by Margie Smith Holt is at retailers that include Amazon.

_____

Hurricane video in a port is scary enough; two at sea is terrifying.

Stay Connected, Stay Informed

Subscribe for great stories in your community!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
MT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement