Episode 25 features Katherine Preston, who lives in Chicago, IL via London, England. I had heard about Katherine about two years ago through some of the stuttering email groups. She was writing a book about stuttering and was looking for people to interview.

I met Katherine at the Friends Convention this past July in Chicago. We got to chatting at one of the workshops. She mentioned she was writing a book and I mentioned that I had recently started this podcast for women who stutter to share their stories. We knew there and then that we would eventually have this conversation!

Katherine has a great story. She was trained as a writer/journalist, but found her way into working in Finance in London. She wanted to write a book, so that she could find the bigger meaning of stuttering. She knew it was much bigger than her own experience.

Katherine tells of interviewing two people who stutter in the UK, and then determining that if she was going to do this book right, she would need a much broader scope.  She shares her decision to leave London and come to the US, where she traveled around the country eventually interviewing more than 100 people who stutter.

Part of her story includes the journey itself, which included camping out and staying at stranger’s houses. I learned about a unique form of travel adventure known as couch surfing, which I want to try!

Listen in as we talk about random moments, acceptance, voluntary stuttering, dating/socializing and of course the next steps towards the completion of Katherine’s book. I try in vain to determine what the name of the book will be!

Credit for the podcast safe music clip “Echoed” goes to ccMixter

Feel free to leave feedback or questions for either Katherine or Pam here.