A Word About Dictionaries
Sunday, April 20 2025
A short dissertation on my infatuation with dictionaries.
- Published in Books
Reflections on America and the Open Road
Tuesday, April 15 2025
In a few weeks, Clay will embark on an 11,000-mile trek following the Lewis and Clark trail across the continent and back. As he loads his pickup and prepares to hit the road, Clay ponders what he has learned so far in his multi-year project to Listen to America.
- Published in Features
Clay Announces Cultural Tour of John Steinbeck’s California
Tuesday, March 25 2025
An exciting new addition to Clay’s slate of LTA Cultural Tours for 2025! We’re headed to Steinbeck Country — California's Central Coast. On this tour we’ll visit Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, and just across the Santa Lucia mountains, the author’s hometown of Salinas. These California landscapes stayed close to Steinbeck’s heart throughout his life and shaped the Nobel Prize-winning author’s indelible literary legacy.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Enduring Appeal of Louis L’Amour and American Western Fiction
Tuesday, March 25 2025
Louis L’Amour is widely considered the best-selling author of Western fiction of all time. Still highly popular with readers around the globe, L’Amour has sold over 320 million books, with numerous film and TV adaptations of his work.
- Published in Features
My Melting Hour at San Juan Hill
Monday, March 17 2025
A not-so-rough rider, Clay gave a historical presentation as Teddy Roosevelt during a recent visit to Santiago, Cuba.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Pushing “Send” From Somewhere Under the English Channel
Tuesday, February 11 2025
Amazing Engineering Grace: The Brave New World we take for granted. Clay reports from “The Chunnel” traveling between England and France.
- Published in Features
Shakespeare and Company, the Legendary Bookshop in the Heart of Paris — Video Dispatch
Monday, February 10 2025
In Paris, France, this week Clay stops in at Shakespeare and Company, a legendary English-language bookshop in the heart of Paris.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Why I’m Changing The Channel
Tuesday, January 28 2025
Clay details how cable news has long failed to reliably serve Americans, why he is tuning out, and what he’ll do instead.
- Published in Features
Sneak Peek: The 2026 Winter Retreats — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, January 21 2025
Clay with a look at what's coming for the 2026 Winter Retreats at beautiful Lochsa Lodge.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Shakespeare, Thoreau, and Ed Abbey in the Bitterroot Mountains
Tuesday, January 14 2025
Clay reports from his annual humanities retreat near the Montana-Idaho border in the Northern Rockies.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road