From Malibu to Timbuktu: Ann and Ed Stalcup’s extraordinary journey
By Barbara Burke · Sat Aug 08 2026
For six decades, the Malibu couple has explored more than 150 countries and all seven continents, turning a shared passion for travel into a remarkable life of writing, art, teaching, and adventure
Malibu’s Shari Latta recently sent me an email entitled, “Who in the world goes to Timbuktu? Ann and Ed Stalcup ... that’s who!" Being an inquisitive journalist, Latta had me at Timbuktu!
I met the Stalcups recently at a gathering hosted by Our Lady of Malibu. The charming couple sat together at a table amidst a slew of interesting books — the kind that beckon an onlooker to immerse herself, enjoy their stories, and learn and grow. Ann shared that she had, indeed, authored them all — 19 in all — as well as many magazine articles. For his part, Ed humbly shared that he painted a bit. A bit? They are both prolific in their chosen arts, and together, they vie for an award entitled “Malibu’s most interesting inveterates.”
Hailing from small towns an ocean apart, the Stalcups traveled the world
As with many of the best life’s journey stories, it’s best to start at the beginning. Ann, who was only 4 years old when England declared war on Germany in 1939, grew up in Lydney, England, a historic market town on the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England, near the South Wales border. Lydney is blessed with countryside, coastal scenery, and woodlands. Amidst Lydney Park Estate’s Roman ruins and gardens and a harbor with trails and cafes, Ann, the child of two educators, often biked along the harbor wondering where all the docked boats loaded with coal and other necessities were headed. She dreamed about what lay beyond her small town.
Ann vividly recalls her family building a bomb shelter and enduring many food, water, and clothing restrictions. Her family valiantly withstood the stress of living through a multitude of air sirens as they huddled in their shelter and listened to the world’s first operational cruise missiles known as V1 Doodlebug bombs ominously fly by. Fortuitously, Lydney was not targeted in the warfare.
Although Ann initially dreamed of being a ballerina or perhaps an artist, ultimately, she followed in her parent’s footsteps and became a primary school educator. In her mesmerizing message to me, Latta, a Malibuite who has known the Stalcups since she was 5 years old, shared that one of Ann’s favorite assignments while studying at London University was to write a historical essay for children.
Although it took three decades for Ann to publish her first book, the essay she wrote at university blossomed into, “On the Home Front: Growing up in Wartime England,” which won a “Notable Children’s Trade Book” award. Not too shabby for one’s first book! Inspired by her own writing acumen, Ann developed a fertile pen and pursued a lifelong passion for writing books and prolifically authoring magazine articles. Her works celebrating a life of travel and wonder have been published in International Travel News, an intriguing compilation entitled Hullaballoo, and FACES, then a Cobblestone publication, among many others.
More detail about those publications must be included in any article attempting to encapsulate Ann’s publishing accomplishments.
However, before delving into those, any article attempting to encapsulate Ann’s life must address how she met Ed and how they together came to be so well-traveled, as theirs is a life’s journey many a reader may well wish he could have experienced.
Ed was born in Goree, Texas, a small rural town that was incorporated in 1906 and was established in response to the arrival of the Wichita Valley Railroad. Goree, whose population is now only roughly 150-ish residents, is approximately 4,555 miles away from Lydney.
Like Ann, as a child, Ed loved to ride his bike around the open countryside. He attended Texas Tech for a time and then joined the Navy. Thereafter, he completed his teaching certificate at UCLA and then served as a beloved geography and history teacher who taught at Mark Twain High School in Venice for 35 years.
Travelling every summer, the couple have visited 150 countries
Readers may be interested in vicariously experiencing the enviable elation inherent in participating in cross-cultural adventures and colloquy. Such joy is often only gifted to intrepid travelers who take the time to immerse themselves in other countries and share time with their people.
Ann explains that when she was 24, she decided it was time to see the world. Until then, she had never been outside England. So, she taught in Vancouver, Canada, for two years, working evenings and weekends to save enough to travel the world for a whole year. During her vacation periods while teaching in Canada, she explored the United States, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and Hawaii.
Ann explains on her website how those travels led to her becoming a writer, stating, “When I got back to England, my next door neighbor asked, 'Did you have a nice time, dear?'" She responded, "Yes, thank you." No one else asked her where she had been for three years, and she was too shy to tell anyone. “That’s when I realized that if I was too shy to TALK about my travels, then WRITING was another way of talking,” Ann stated. “I have been writing ever since, but it was 30 years before my first book was published.”
Ann and Ed met when they both traveled to Greece and they were married four months later. They settled in Westwood and then moved to Malibu’s Rodeo Grounds off of Topanga. Ann taught at Bonner Elementary in Brentwood and later at St. Aidan’s in Malibu. After living through two Topanga floods, with water rushing inside their little house, the couple bought property on Rambla Pacifico and built the home of their dreams.
“A year after we married, we spent 15 months traveling to every country in Europe.” Ann commented. “Since then we have travelled every school holiday.” They have travelled together for 60 years, except for three summers when they were building their Malibu home.
Together, they have visited more than 150 countries and all seven continents. They have ridden donkeys, camels, and elephants; visited remote destinations such as Timbuktu, Machu Picchu, Papua New Guinea, and Antarctica; and have camped with tribal people in Mali, Niger, and Ethiopia. They both agree that their favorite trip was taking a pirogue down the Niger River to Timbuktu.
“Most of my writing has been related to travel experiences,” Ann explained. Her stories weave her observations and experiences into books and articles featuring the crafts and customs from cultures at home and abroad.
“When I’m not writing or teaching, I love to cycle, walk, read, spend time — or dance.”
During a sabbatical year in Spain, Ed became captivated with the differences he saw in the villages’ architecture, as some were fancy European homes, while others were small, peasant-occupied cottages. He started painting such scenes in watercolor and his first painting was a success. Over the years, his many watercolors in the “Naive Painting” style adorn their home and the homes of many friends who have received his greeting card paintings. The Topanga Art Association gave him an award for one of his watercolors depicting a strawberry field, and he has served as the treasurer of the Malibu Art Association.
During their teaching careers, the couple have both continued their passions of writing and painting. Of her 19 published books, Ann’s favorite is titled "Leo Politi," known as the "Artist of the Angels." She and Ed thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the acclaimed illustrator, writer, and historian, who lived from 1908 to 1996, and who served as Olvera Street’s public artist, selling portraits to tourists and locals and drawing and painting the street’s old buildings, colorful characters, and festive events that honored his adopted city’s multi-cultural history.
They have lived through a lot of challenging times, most notably when their dream home burned down in the 1993 Old Topanga Fire and during mudslides. Although many of their neighbors were not so lucky, the Stalcups’ home fortunately survived the Palisades Fire.
Readers may encounter the Stalcups at local book sales and art shows. If so, don’t forget to ask them to tell you all about Timbuktu!