Clay Jenkinson, Author at Listening To America

My John Steinbeck Tour: A Preliminary Report — What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been

Tuesday, December 10 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

Beginning in April 2024 and concluding just before Thanksgiving, Clay traveled over 21,000 miles and visited 41 states, roughly following John Steinbeck’s route as chronicled in Travels with Charley. Clay notes he undertook the cross-country journey partly to gain his own appraisal of America as it approaches its 250th birthday.

Published in Features

Tagged under: America at 250, John Steinbeck, Steinbeck Travels, Thomas Jefferson

My Quest for the Ultimate Gumbo and Other Culinary Misadventures South of the Mason-Dixon Line

Tuesday, December 03 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

A lighter report on heavier cuisine as Clay takes a gastronomic excursion through the American South.

Published in Features

Tagged under: John Steinbeck, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Road Trips, Steinbeck Travels, Texas

Home Again and Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 26 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

My John Steinbeck Travels with Charley tour is now over: 210 days, 21,114 miles, 1,407 gallons of gas, 41 states.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: Holidays, John Steinbeck, North Dakota, Steinbeck Travels

Congressman John F. Lacey, August, 1906, in Goodnight, Texas.

The Great but Forgotten Conservationist John F. Lacey

Monday, November 25 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

While John Steinbeck was not much interested in National Parks, he traveled through a nation whose conservation footprint was indelibly shaped by visionary Iowa Congressman John Lacey.

Published in Features

Tagged under: America at 250, Arizona, John Steinbeck, National Parks, North Dakota, Steinbeck Travels

The Majestic Confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers

Thursday, November 14 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

John Wesley Powell, Edward Abbey and hiking Canyonlands National Park.

Published in Features

Tagged under: America at 250, National Parks, Steinbeck Travels, Utah, Water in the West

Route 66 and The Grapes of Wrath

Monday, November 11 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

I’ve been at both ends of U.S. Route 66 this year, the highway we associate with John Steinbeck and the Joad family of The Grapes of Wrath.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: America at 250, Arizona, Illinois, John Steinbeck, Road Trips, Steinbeck Travels

President and Jackie Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, minutes before his assassination, November, 22, 1962.

Recollections in Dallas: A Pivot of American History

Saturday, November 02 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

While in Dallas, Texas, on his Steinbeck Travels with Charley Tour, Clay revisits places and memories connected with President John Kennedy’s tragic assassination on November 22, 1963.