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Transgender Parkite invites readers to look through ‘Foggy Goggles’

Cami Richardson pens second memoir

Cami Richardson’s “Foggy Goggles” is available on Amazon. For information and inquiries about Richardson’s motivational speeches, email camirichardsom53@yahoo.com.
Parkite Cami Richardson has added “Foggy Goggles,” her second memoir to her long list of accomplishments that include co-chairing Park City’s LGBTQ+ Task Force and organizing Diva Las Vegas.
Courtesy of Cami Richardson

Parkite and TED talker Cami Richardson would like people who have or haven’t read her 2019 memoir, “Do You Know Who I Once Was? A Story of an Unlikely Journey to Be One’s True Self,” to get the rest of the stories.

Richardson has published a follow-up called “Foggy Goggles,” which is composed mostly of stories she had to cut from the first book about her transition from Tom to Cami.

“My first book was originally twice as big,” she said. “After the editor read it, she wrote back to say that I had too much fluff that is unrelated to the bigger story, which was about me transitioning.”



Richardson responded and said “Do You Know Who I Once Was?” refers to not just her transition, but also her previous careers as a firefighter and in the ski industry.

“My message has been that by taking these risks you can achieve many awards…” Cami Richardson, author

“After talking more, I did pull some stuff out of the first book,” she said. 



The pushback inspired Richardson, who is currently the co-chair of the Park City LGBTQ+ Task Force.

“People who had known about the other chapters asked me what happened to them, and told me how funny they were,” she said. “So she started thinking about a sequel.”

While she was not short of material for “Foggy Goggles,” Richardson decided to add some additional thoughts about the past six years of her transitioning and other stories about her firefighting and ski industry years.

With a stash of such stories, Richardson began piecing “Foggy Goggles” together in 2019. She picked it up fully in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and finished it this past summer.

“That’s how ‘Foggy Goggles’ came to be,” she said.

The book’s title, like the stories, comes from personal experiences, according to Richardson.

“If you know anything about skiing and have had an experience with having foggy goggles while skiing, you realize that it can lead to crazy results,” she said.

While some chapters take up half a page, others go on for two or three. All are quick anecdotes that Richardson says are “fun to read.”

One is about her friend Les Otten, the former chief executive officer of American Ski Company.

Richardson, at the time, was the company’s chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance.

Otten’s father was a Jewish immigrant, and he never thought his son would be successful in the ski industry, Richardson said.

American Ski Company purchased what was known as Wolf Mountain in 1997 and renamed it Canyons, according to Richardson.

“We took the company public, which made us the first ski companies to do that,” she said. “We flew home from New York City to Bethel, Maine, that night. When we got out of the plane, Les looked up at the quarter moon and said, ‘Dad, what do you think of me now? I’m worth $350 million.’ It was extremely touching.”

Parkite Cami Richardson’s memoir “Foggy Goggles” is a follow up to her first book, “Do You Know Who I Once Was? A Story of an Unlikely Journey to Be One’s True Self.”
Scott Iwasaki/Park Record

Other personal stories include a humorous interaction with Ted Kennedy Jr. and a ticket taker when Richardson was a manager at the Killington Base Lodge in Vermont, and her “career” using pot.

“We go to Killington every year,” she said. “They have gondolas, but we call the ‘ganjalas.’” 

Another story is about a photo that served as Richardson’s catalyst from firefighter into the world of finance in the ski industry.

The chapter is called “Dead End.”

“When I was a firefighter in New York, I had come out of a fire, and I was taking some oxygen, and one of the photographers took a photo of me for the paper,” she said. 

The photo, taken by Julie Weiner, landed on the front page of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

“So you see me there, and behind me there is a Dead End sign,” Richardson said. “The sign got me thinking about the degree I had in accounting that I wasn’t using.”

It wasn’t like Richardson needed to fall back on the degree. She was a lieutenant-level training instructor and had a lot of success fighting fires and rescuing people.

“But that photo made me think, and eight years later, I got into the ski industry.” she said. “It was a significant event in my life.”

Richardson had kept in touch with Weiner, and the two had breakfast last October in Las Vegas, where Richardson served as the lead organizer for Diva Las Vegas, an annual social event for members of the transgender community and their families.

“She read ‘Foggy Goggles’ and told me she loved it more than the first book,” Richardson said. “And I think if my books can make people happy, or if they makes a difference in LGBTQ+ community, then I’m making a difference.”

Toward the end of this book, Richardson writes, “I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life, and I’m not afraid of sharing my experiences in the hopes that you might learn something, and even have the courage to take on more risks and achieve more in your life.

“My message has been that by taking these risks you can achieve many awards,” she said about the quote. “Sometimes people just need a push to move forward.”

Richardson, who is also a motivational speaker, said she is forever grateful to her wife, Teri Cook, who has supported her throughout the ups and downs of life.

“She has been with me through all of these crazy situations,” Richardson said.

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