Lynn Brendlen, an avid hiker, was inspired to begin writing as she ascended a high granite peak overlooking the southern Sierras of California. Her passion for hiking has taken her across the globe from the rain forests of Costa Rica, Europe, the Mediterranean, Canada and her treasured Africa.

She currently lives in Saratoga, California with her husband of forty years, Herb Brendlen.

Bridging a gap with 'Kathryn's Crossing'                January 27, 2009 ~ Saratoga News       

African trips inspire book by Brendlen

By Shannon Barry

Even though Lynn Brendlen has long since unpacked from her trips to East Africa, she is still working to bridge the gap between the affluent California culture to one of the poorest areas of Kenya.

The Saratoga resident traveled with her husband Herb in 2002, 2004 and 2006 to join forces with Harmon and Teri Parker to build footbridges.  Harmon has since built more than 50 footbridges for the Kenyans in an effort to prevent deaths caused by drowning and wild animal attacks.

For their first journey in 2002, the Brendlens traveled to the remote area of West Pokot.  Brendlen explained that the trip transformed into a physical and spiritual journey.

"There is a feeling that the people were surviving by the land itself and nothing else," Lynn recalls.

The only piece of furniture the Africans used was a small Pokot stool they carried with them regularly.  They made tree branches into toothbrushes.

She said it was humbling to witness the people in West Pokot survive on so little, and satisfying to give back and work on the bridges for them.

"It is a feeling of wanting to do more," Brendlen said.  "Not in a guilt-ridden sense, but feeling like you can make such a difference in people's lives by doing so little.  And does one really need a new car just because it's a new model when your old one works and when you can make such a difference in the whole communities' life?"

This backdrop was the motivation for Lynn to write and publish Kathryn's Crossing: A Journey to a Bridge in Africa.

"I wanted to share what Kenya was like and the change that it made in my life, and the balance and new perspective that I gained from going there," Brendlen said.  "When I get quiet and I really reach into my soul, than I can express how Africa changed me."

The book began as an account to share with her children.  After completing the 76-page book in 2005, she began to hear a demand for something more.

"I started to read little excerpts to friends, and they all said the same thing: 'Lynn you're not getting by with this.  This is meant for more than your family,'" Brendlen said.

She began to query major publishers but after hearing that it needed to be approximately 200 pages long, she considered other options.

"I knew I was finished and that I didn't need to write any more." Brendlen said.  "I have had so many people say, 'No this is a piece of poetry.  It shouldn't be any more than it is."

She decided to publish the book herself through Robertson Publishing in Los Gatos.  Brendlen said it was a natural decision that all proceeds from the sale of the book would be donated to the organization Bridging the Gap Africa.

"We felt like those people have nothing and the children risk their lives just to get to school," she said. "It takes so little to help someone and to pay attention to that small tug in your heart that says, 'Help, because life is short and sometimes the opportunity only comes once."

The book was published Aug. 20, 2008, and she has since sold approximately 250 copies.

She is continually impressed with support the book receives, especially because the decision to write wasn't one that came easy. Before earning a college degree, Brendlen dropped out of school and got married more than 40 years ago.  She has been painting and sculpting for 15 years, but her interest in writing began to peak during a hike years later.

"In 2002, my husband and I were hiking in the High Sierras, and I said to him, 'Honey I think I've got something,'" Brendlen recalls.  "I said it to him and he said, 'Try to remember it when we get home.' That was the beginning of my writing.  I felt like at some place in my life, it was OK to be me and express what I was seeing in the  world and who I was."

If nothing else, Brendlen hopes those who read her book enjoy the journey she shares and opens up their perspective to the world outside the United States.

"Living in a Third World country for only a short while opened me up to questions that had never entered my mind." Lynn said.  "I say a quiet thank you.  I am changed every time I turn on the faucet and get clean drinking water. I am changed every time I take a hot shower.  I am changed when dusk comes and I can turn on the lights.  I am changed when I can go for medical care.

"I see the faces of the poorest of poor, and while I pray for them, I am changed."

Back to Top