Henry David Thoreau
As I look to the start of the new year, Thoreau’s 1854 classic, Walden, still deeply challenges and inspires me.
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Rockwell painting
Road-weary and keen to return home to New York, the final leg of Steinbeck’s cross-country journey took him through the troubled South of 1960.
Clay does a special public reading from the works of his favorite English Novelist, Charles Dickens.
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Steinbeck statue
As Clay traveled across the country, he stopped at John Steinbeck’s beloved Monterey Bay, home of the author’s great friend Ed Ricketts and the inspiration for many unforgettable characters immortalized in his novels.
A stop at a West Texas Barnes & Noble persuades Clay that books remain alive and kicking.
John Steinbeck
Two journals John Steinbeck kept while writing his two most famous novels provide an intimate look into the author’s creative process.
Missouri River
Clay stops on the banks of the mighty Missouri River, the boundary of America’s east and west. It is here that John Steinbeck noted, “The two sides of the river might well be one thousand miles apart.”

Looking for America in London

Clay shares impressions from a recent visit to England, where he led a cultural tour.
Maple River, North Dakota
In October 1960, traveling through eastern North Dakota, John Steinbeck stopped along the lonely Maple River. Here, the author had a remarkable encounter with an itinerant Shakespearean actor.
Edward Abbey

To the Desert With Edward Abbey

Clay visits with Edward Abbey, the colorful, eloquent, and passionate advocate of the American West.