After a 33-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service working overseas in U.S. embassies and in Washington, DC, at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Information Agency, Julie Connor returned to her first love—writing. In 2019 she founded Bayou City Press, LLC, and published her first book, Savoring the Camino de Santiago: It’s the Pilgrimage, Not the Hike. Her book recently won a silver medal in the annual eLit competition.

Julie wrote throughout her career, but for professional purposes—memoranda, briefing papers, and the like. Julie regularly publishes columns on her website (http://BayouCityPress.com) and also posts entries on her blog, Camino for Boomers.

Her new company, Bayou City Press, focuses on three areas: Houston, travel, and international affairs. Columns about travel and Houston are regularly published on her website, and Julie’s blog, Camino for Boomers, serves as a supplement for her book on the Camino de Santiago.

As a U.S. diplomat, Julie completed nine tours overseas (Israel twice, Paraguay, Guatemala, Indonesia, Colombia twice, Malaysia, Chile). In Chile, she was Acting Chief of Mission at the time a letter bomb was delivered to the embassy. In her last overseas assignment, she was the Director of Narcotics Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, where she managed a budget of $460 million and a fleet of 200 aircraft, including helicopters and spray planes. During her tenure, the section achieved its all-time high in the eradication of coca and poppy, as well as record levels of narcotics interdiction.

In Washington, Julie was the Office Director for the State Department’s office that focuses on multilateral affairs. As the office director, she oversaw the U.S. missions in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, and Montreal, coordinating the U.S. policy positions for numerous international organizations.

Julie was the recipient of numerous awards over her career, including four Superior Honor awards, and both USIA’s and the State Department’s annual awards for promotion of Equal Opportunity. She was the founder and first president of Executive Women at State, an organization focused on advocating for, mentoring, and training women at the Department of State.

Julie has one son, James, and two cats, Halloween and Mimi. She lives in Houston, TX.