I go places. I write stuff. I talk about it.

My Mission:

Whether laughing at the world with garment workers in Cambodia or talking with college students in Indiana, discussing SCUBA diving with lobster divers in Nicaragua or addressing a nonprofit in Florida, playing PlayStation with students in Kosovo or challenging high school students in the U.S. to see the world differently, I seek to connect people through words and pictures.

I believe that if we reduce global issues to the stories of individual people, we can better see ourselves, our parents, our sons and daughters, and our hopes and struggles in one another.

My writing has appeared in publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Condé Nast Portfolio and has aired on NPR. I’ve spoken on subjects such as globalization, travel, and social responsibility at universities, high schools, and groups across the country.

Where Am I Wearing?

My obsession with where my clothes were made took me around the world.

While I was undercover as an underwear buyer in Bangladesh, my fiancée was planning our wedding. Lucky for me, 2007 was still the age of loose lending; otherwise we wouldn’t have received the second mortgage on our house that helped fund the trip. Even luckier yet, John Wiley & Sons published the book that resulted.

Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes was published in December 2008 and received press in Time Magazine and the Financial Times to name a few places.

Read the first chapter

I’m represented by Jon Sternfeld at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.  Ever since Silver Spoons, I’ve dreamed of being played by Ricky Schroder in a movie. If you wanna make this happen, contact Jon.

Invite me to speak to your group.

(Photos of Kelsey)
(Photos from Kelsey’s Where Am I Wearing? trip)

Too Much Info

I was sprayed by a skunk.

I live in Muncie, Indiana, with my patient wife and adorable daughter.

I’m an authority on disposable underwear.

I was made in America.

Summer ‘11-

My wife, daughter, and I welcomed our fourth family member (5^th counting the cat) into the world.  Griffin Noah Timmerman was born on May 26^th.  Annie has three months off  and my schedule is pretty open until September, so this summer will be the five of us getting used to one another.

I have a couple of writing projects that I’m working on, but can’t talk about yet.  Other than that it’s fun and sun, son and daughter, mom and dad, and cat until the fall when Annie goes back to work and my speaking engagements start.

My book Where Am I Wearing? has been selected as a freshman common reader at West Texas A&M, Tarleton State, Texas A&M – Texarkana, and Texarkana College! This means that thousands of freshmen will begin their college career in 2011 by getting to know Arifa, Nari, Ai, Dewan and Zhu Chun, and all of the other garment workers I met in living my book. I can’t wait to visit in the fall.