Reading America’s Rivers
Monday, June 16 2025
Tracing America's great rivers this summer along the Lewis and Clark Trail, Clay rediscovers the power and beauty of William Least Heat-Moon's forgotten classic, River Horse: A Voyage Across America.
- Published in Books
A Few Reflections on RV Life
Monday, June 09 2025
A short report on the RV Life.
- Published in Features
Launching This July – The Listening to America Book Club
Monday, June 09 2025
The Listening to America Book Club is coming soon.
- Published in LTA Friends Book Club
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at University of Virginia — Video Dispatch
Friday, June 06 2025
On his recent visit to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clay visited the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on campus. Dedicated in 2021, the memorial commemorates the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who worked on the University between 1817 and 1865.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Following the Ohio River on the Lewis and Clark Trail
Monday, June 02 2025
One of America’s truly grand rivers, The Ohio ranks eighth in length in the United States but second in volume.
- Published in Features
Clay Tours Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Estate — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
As a kickoff for his 2025 Lewis and Clark trek, Clay visited and toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s primary home and plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Peaks of Otter — Thomas Jefferson Speculated America’s Tallest Mountains — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
Clay checks out The Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which Thomas Jefferson speculated were the country’s tallest mountains.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Lewis and Clark’s Traveling Magic Show
Tuesday, May 27 2025
Attending a magic show by my friend Joshua Jay in Pittsburgh got me pondering the “magic” of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
- Published in Features
The Spot That Made Thomas Jefferson Swoon: A Visit to Natural Bridge — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 20 2025
Clay stopped by Natural Bridge State Park in the Shenandoah Valley. The site so captivated Thomas Jefferson that he purchased it from King of England in 1774.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Ten Young Men From Kentucky — History, Old and New
Monday, May 19 2025
Clay reflects on the historical dynamics of the “Ten Young Men” who made up the original core of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery.
- Published in Features