Deedie Runkel - Scone By Scone (Sausalito Store)

When she turned 60, Deedie Runkel and her husband David left Washington, DC to become innkeepers in Ashland, Oregon, home of the world-class Oregon Shakespeare Festival. They had little idea of what was in store. They knew they could cook, they knew how to make a bed, and they had always loved meeting and getting to know new people. And coming from the land of politics, they of course also knew that some people can be challenging.

Scone By Scone highlights our experiences hosting theatre lovers, actors, newlyweds, travellers, and just about every other type of person you can imagine. In this book, Runkel shares what it's really like backstage at an inn, through stories of the myriad situations an innkeeper faces. Whether it’s producing an impromptu wedding one afternoon, discovering that a guest was her host 20 years ago in a remote village in Africa, or introducing actors to early morning breakfast – nearly every day has brought another fascinating story to Runkel's door. Each chapter contains not just her recipe for business success, but also the recipe for whichever item on her prize-winning menu is featured in the story. To her surprise, she discovered that innkeeping is indeed her vocation. It’s inspiring, transforming work, and calls on skills Runkel didn’t know she had. It is also laced with entirely unexpected ingredients – the love and friendship of many amazing people who came to Runkel and her husband as guests but whom they now count as treasured friends for life.

Deedie Runkel majored in English at Penn State, where she met her husband when they both wrote for The Daily Collegian. Just recently, she earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts in writing from UC/Riverside. Her first book, an autobiography titled Boxes: Lifting the Lid on an American Life was published in 2010. Her opinion pieces and articles have appeared in The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Friends Journal, and other publications.

 

Location: 

100 Bay Street
Sausalito, CA 94965