Clay Jenkinson, Author at Listening To America

Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts where Thoreau lived

A Stop at Thoreau’s Walden Pond Near Concord, Massachusetts

Sunday, May 12 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

Clay stops to visit Thoreau’s Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts as part of his Travels with Charley road trip.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: Books, Humanities, John Steinbeck, Massachusetts, Steinbeck Travels

May 9 / John Steinbeck, his dog Charley and his camper rig.

Visiting John Steinbeck’s Home in Sag Harbor, New York — Video Dispatch

Thursday, May 09 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

Clay visits John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor home where the noted author began his 1960 cross-country journey, immortalized in Travels With Charley.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: Books, John Steinbeck, Maine, New York, North Dakota, Road Trips, Steinbeck Travels, Video

Fall Plowing, a 1931 oil painting by the Iowa born artist Grant Wood.

Across Iowa

Saturday, May 04 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

Clay, on his way to Sag Harbor, N.Y., travels through Iowa, home to the famous American painter Grant Wood and journalist William L. Shirer.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: America at 250, Iowa, John Steinbeck, Steinbeck Travels

Underway! Sag Harbor, New York or Bust

Tuesday, April 30 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

Clay leaves his home in Bismarck, North Dakota, and heads east on a circuitous route to Sag Harbor, New York, where John Steinbeck began his famous 1960 cross-country journey.

Published in Dispatches from the Road

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

Shakedown Cruise: The Great Adventure Begins

Tuesday, April 23 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

April is the cruelest month, says T.S. Eliot, perhaps because it brings you some false spring that often enough is put in its place by late blasts of winter. This is certainly true on the Great Plains. But I am leaving on my big John Steinbeck Travels with Charley Tour on April 27 …

Published in Dispatches from the Road

Tagged under: Books, John Steinbeck, North Dakota, Road Trips, Steinbeck Travels

Clay and Dennis view the April 8, 2024 eclipse at Chaco Canyon in NW New Mexico.

The Solar Eclipse of 2024: A View From Chaco Canyon

Monday, April 15 2024 by Clay Jenkinson

My friend Dennis and I had the good fortune to experience the solar eclipse of 2024 at Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. We could not have chosen a better place to observe the eclipse. Chaco Canyon is more than just another example of what used to be called Anasazi sites. It was designed from the beginning to serve as a lunar and solar “clock.”