Think Warm Destinations

   On a recent cold winter night when, despite a utility bill that surpasses the size of the national debt, I just couldn’t get warm.  My husband and I snuggled together for warmth under a pile of afghans to watch the new Jesse James/Brad Pitt movie.  It’s just been released on DVD – “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

   Because we live right here in JJ territory, and being a fan of history as well as an admirer of many of Brad Pitt’s attributes, we both looked forward to the movie.  I should clarify that I’m the fan of Brad Pitt’s attributes.  My husband couldn’t care less.

   But we had both worked on several stories about Jesse James’ sights in advance of the release of the movie, so we had a little more than a typical movie watcher’s interest in the story.  I had learned about the movie, even before it went into production in Winnipeg, Canada, through a visit with tourism officials for the state of Missouri and for the city of St. Joseph.

   That’s a big part of my job, staying in touch with tourism and public relations officials who represent destinations around the country and around the world.  I receive dozens of press releases on a daily basis from those professionals trying to get attention for their properties in newspapers, magazines and social media outlets.

   So one of the magazines that picked up my Jesse James story was “Show Me Missouri,” a vivid quarterly publication that covers destinations in the state of Missouri.  I’ll have another story about a movie location in Missouri coming out in the spring issue of Show-Me Missouri.  It should be on the shelves in a few weeks, or visit the magazine’s web site at www.showmemissouri.net.

   Or, to read the story I wrote entitled “Outlaw’s Paradise,” click on www.dianalambdinmeyer.com/pdfs/Jesse.pdf.

  It was an incredibly hot summer day when my husband and I visited JJ’s grave.  Just thinking about it warms my toes on these cold winter nights.