Clay, was the featured speaker at The National Steinbeck Center’s 25th anniversary and wrangled a rare visit inside the writer’s famous rig.
President Roosevelt
Roosevelt was a serious writer and one of America’s great readers — in addition to being the 26th president of the United States, the Governor of New York, Police Commissioner of New York, a U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, and the hero of San Juan Hill. 
Next spring Clay will begin a two-year journey following John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley trek across America.
Belle Fourche plaque
Clay files a video report from the geographic center of the USA on the wind-swept plains outside of Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
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stack of books on American buffalo
With Ken Burns’ new film The American Buffalo airing October 16 on PBS, Clay recommends a few books on the bison, Great Plains and American West.
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shakespeare
One Florida school system will only allow classroom study of excerpts from some Shakespeare plays in its high school curriculum because it is afraid they will violate the new state laws forbidding the inclusion of taboo issues in the curriculum.
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Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell.
Katherine Rundell’s new book on the great English writer and cleric, John Donne is, among other things, a work of evangelism. Rundell says one of her goals is to get everyone to read some of Donne’s poetry. I could not agree more.
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Hamlin Garland, 1860 -1940. Image - National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
As I continued my drive and not far into South Dakota, I visited the homestead of the Pulitzer Prize winning author Hamlin Garland.
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I sat in the theater Friday for three hours and was mesmerized. The film is historically accurate. Oppenheimer is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
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book cover: The Kindness of Strangers
In 1994 San Francisco journalist Mike McIntyre got it into his head to try to cross the county with no money. No money whatsoever. With a borrowed 50-70 pound backpack, he traveled literally penniless for 4,223 miles from San Francisco to Cape Fear, North Carolina. That's fourteen states, 82 rides, five laundry loads, and one golf round.
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