BATH, England -- In a two-hour walk, you can take in all the major features of interest in Bath, an attractive compact city in southwest England. The Romans, here 2,000 years ago, left behind several relics that center on a magnificent temple and a bathing spa where hot water still gushes. Bath's great abbey celebrates 1,000 years of occupation of the same site. Waterways, bridges and Georgian crescents contribute to charm, and galleries, theaters, shops and restaurants testify to Bath's sense of high fashion. Sally Lunn, resident in the 17th century of Bath's oldest house, gave her name to famous buns, and Jane Austen's aura lingers in the house where she lived.
Matthew Zuckerman was first brought to Bath when he was about 3 months old. "I was born in Berlin to an English mother and an American father," he said. "I learned to cry in German. I grew up in Bath, and lived here till I left home."
Curly haired, short-bearded and comfortably dressed, he looks like someone who finds a lot of fun in life. He has a host of entertaining stories, and a flair for telling them. From boyhood he knew that he wanted to write. "When I left Bath I went to London and worked at this and that," he said. "I took a course in teaching English as a foreign language, with the thought of taking a working holiday. I toyed with the idea of going somewhere in Europe, or Israel. One of my teachers had just come back from Japan. After talking with him, I went to Japan, planning to stay six months. But one thing led to another."