To the Desert With Edward Abbey
Tuesday, September 24 2024
Clay visits with Edward Abbey, the colorful, eloquent, and passionate advocate of the American West.
- Published in Features
The Grapes of Wrath on Route 66 — Video Dispatch
Friday, September 13 2024
It was one of the hottest days of the summer of 2024. I was on Route 66, somewhere east of Needles, California.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Looking Forward to My Zoom Call With Lindsay
Tuesday, September 10 2024
I’ve read Lindsay Chervinsky’s new book Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic. It’s outstanding.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Open Roads, Like Rivers, Invite Us to Muse About the Trajectory of Life
Saturday, September 07 2024
Just as rivers serve as an automatic and compelling metaphor for our life journeys, so roads invite us to muse about the trajectory of our lives.
- Published in Features
Salinas, California: Home to the Famous Author and the National Steinbeck Center
Tuesday, August 13 2024
Clay arrives in Salinas and Monterey, California, the home turf of a young John Steinbeck.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Patricia Limerick and George Orwell on Stage!
Tuesday, August 06 2024
Clay will join noted author and MacArthur Awardee Patricia Limerick at the Vail Symposium in Colorado on August 21 to discuss George Orwell’s novel 1984.
- Published in Features
Jack Kerouac’s Final Resting Place — Video Dispatch
Thursday, August 01 2024
Clay visits the grave of Jack Kerouac, “pioneer of the Beat generation,” in Lowell, Massachusetts.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Clay Visits Thoreau’s Walden Cabin — Video Dispatch
Saturday, July 27 2024
As he travels through New England, Clay stops at Walden Pond outside of Concord, Massachusetts, to visit the original site of the 10 by 15 foot cabin immortalized in Henry David Thoreau’s American classic Walden.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
John Steinbeck’s Evening With a Father and Son in Idaho
Sunday, July 21 2024
John Steinbeck stumbles into an uneasy father-son relationship during a quiet stopover near Coeur d’Alene.
- Published in Features
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