about ralph grizzle

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About Me
I was born in Danville, Virginia, on October 27, 1957. I didn’t stay there long. My father, who retired (at age 35!) after 20 years as a ticket agent for Southern Railway, moved our family to Alamance County, North Carolina, where he began logging for a living. During my adolescence and teens, I accompanied him in that godforsaken profession. Six of the dozen or so men I worked were killed by the dangerous work or the drink that accompanied it. I could not wait to leave logging — by whatever means available. And so I pedaled away from it.

From 1980 through 1990, I bicycled across America, pedaled through Europe and island-hopped the South Pacific.

After backpacking through Bali, bussing through Java, hopping a boat to Singapore and crossing Malaysia to Thailand, I flew into Burma, tramped to Dhaka and endured a 32-hour train ride from calamitous Calcutta to bustling Bombay. From there, I hopped a plane for Greece and traveled to Switzerland before returning home, where I settled, quite naturally, into a career of travel writing.

I began my journalistic career at the age of 32, following the conclusion of my “sabbatical decade.” Now, nearly 20 years later, I specialize in writing about cruises. Cruises (and places cruises sail to) are all that I write about these days. In my lifetime, I have cruised on more than 100 ships and have visited more than 100 countries.

I publish a magazine, The Avid Cruiser; and am cruise editor of Hemispheres, United Airlines’ in-flight magazine. The North American Travel Journalism Association, awarded my article, Ship Shape, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of Hemispheres, in the category of “Best Cruise Writing.’”

The Baltic is my favorite cruising region; Alaskan Amber is my favorite beer; and when pressed, I tell people that SeaDream Yacht Club is my favorite cruise line.

I make my home in Asheville, North Carolina and in Copenhagen, Denmark, but I am nearly always at sea or in port. When in Asheville, I enjoy mountain and road biking, hiking, lingering in coffee shops and frequent trips to the gorgeous Biltmore Estate. When in Copenhagen, I enjoy biking, lingering in coffee shops and trying to learn Danish words.

My work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and numerous consumer magazines.

I am the author of four books, including Remembering Charles Kuralt, a biography that Publisher’ Weekly called “a sweet and lovely homage, a welcome commemoration.”

(pictured: Charles Kuralt and Ralph Grizzle, 1994)