Jane Fletcher Geniesse, a former reporter with the New York Times, is the author of two biographies and a novel. "Passionate Nomad," the life of Dame Freya Stark, the celebrated traveler who explored the valleys of the ancient Assassins, was published by Random House in 1999 and was a finalist for the Pen/Albrand Award.In 2008, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday published "American Priestess," the extraordinary tale of a Chicago beauty, Anna Spafford, who led a group to Jerusalem in 1881 to await the arrival of the Messiah. Not only is Anna's story one of religious coercion but also a vivid description of the titanic events that created the modern Middle East in which she and her followers were intimately involved.Mrs. Geniesse's first achievement was a novel published by Doubleday in 1976, "The Riches of Life." Influenced by the new feminist movement, her heroine, Sarah Bowler, is a well-to-do young New Yorker impatient with her life. She becomes involved in the stolen antiquities trade and in the process learns the value of family and friends as well as of having a career.All three books have had a second life in paperback. Mrs. Geniesse has also contributed articles to many publications and is frequently invited to speak on her books and on the Middle East.