A native of Minnesota, author Aviva Bar-Am immigrated to Israel in 1968 and has lived in Jerusalem ever since. She holds a degree in social work from the Hebrew University, and during her years as a staff correspondent at the Jerusalem Post published articles on social issues, opened a newspaper hot line for English speakers and had her own Consuming Interest column.
But Aviva had fallen in love with her adopted country, and together with her Israeli-born husband, certified tour guide Shmuel Bar-Am, had taken every possible opportunity to travel its length and breadth. Thus for the past 24 years she has been contribution travel articles to the Jerusalem Post.
Feedback from her readers helped Aviva make the decision to write books about traveling in Israeli. Noting the complete lack of material in English about Jerusalem's wonders, the Golan Heights and the Eastern Galilee, Israel's south, and even wheelchair-accessible sites, she produced seven English-language guides to Israel.