DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD
Clay Visits Pompeys Pillar National Monument — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, July 23 2024
Clay visits Pompeys Pillar National Monument along the Yellowstone River east of Billings, Montana.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Steinbeck, Charley, a Stop in Yellowstone, and the Call of the Wild
Friday, July 19 2024
Steinbeck and his dog Charley have an eventful visit at Yellowstone National Park.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
It’s a Dog’s Life — Billings, Montana
Monday, July 15 2024
John Steinbeck’s French poodle Charley is the star of Travels with Charley. The dog must have been remarkable because he steals the show in every scene he’s in. Steinbeck wrote about him with great grace, affection, and humor.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, July 09 2024
Clay reflects on the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. He's been here many times and made this visit because Steinbeck did, on October 13, 1960.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
From the Eastern Heart of Montana — Video Dispatch
Saturday, July 06 2024
This morning I crossed the great Yellowstone River 27 miles west of Glendive on old Highway 10. There are not many places on the John Steinbeck Travels with Charley tour where you know you are PRECISELY where Steinbeck was, because so much has changed.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Grasslands Renaissance on the Great Plains
Tuesday, July 02 2024
A visit with author, falconer and pioneering regenerative rancher Dan O’Brien on his remarkable Cheyenne River Buffalo Ranch.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Literary Time Travel — Step Into Carl Sandburg’s World in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains
Friday, June 21 2024
A visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains home of America’s beloved poet, Carl Sandburg.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
My Romance With the Little Missouri River
Monday, June 17 2024
I have a special claim on the Little Missouri — or rather it has had a special claim on me. If I had to spend eternity in a single landscape, it would be about 10 miles north of Marmarth, North Dakota, where the Little Missouri just begins to carve up the viewshed.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Back Home and Planning Phase Two of the Great John Steinbeck Tour of America
Tuesday, June 11 2024
Well, I’m home now for a few weeks, writing up my travels and planning Phase Two of the great John Steinbeck Travels with Charley tour of America, which begins in the second week of July.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Tortilla Flat: Steinbeck’s Early Years
Monday, June 03 2024
Steinbeck struggles against poverty, but the publication of Tortilla Flat changes everything.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road