GET YOUR PROGRAMS, CAN’T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A PROGRAM
Yesterday ended on one of those good news, bad news sort of notes. I received word from Steve Roth, the publicist at the publisher that the signing at Bookworks in Albuquerque scheduled for the 26th of this month has been canceled. It would seem the publisher was slammed with orders for Ghost Towns of Route 66 and has had to rush a reprint that will not be available in time.
So, to the fine folks in Albuquerque, I apologize. We are working on rescheduling and as soon as a date is confirmed I will post details.
Meanwhile plans are moving forward for other appearances. These include the Route 66 Fun Run, KABAM, Wheels on 66 in Tucumcari, the International Route 66 Festival in Victorville, and the big one, Cuba Fest in Cuba.
But the pressing issue is completion of the Route 66 encyclopedia. The final edit is complete for “A” through “Q” entries, and captions are written from “A” to Barstow. This has presented another troubling issue, what illustrations to use and which ones to discard as it would be impossible to use all 2,000 plus images.
With vast donations from the collections from Steve Rider, Mike Ward, and Joe Sonderman, images from the Library of Congress, and hundreds of photographs from our files as well as those we took specifically for this project making choices is an almost impossible task. Fortunately I have assistance from Melinda Keefe, a gifted editor, at the publisher to help with the decision.
As an example, I have photos of Bender’s in Amboy circa 1918, Bender’s circa 1930, Roy’s about 1945, Conn’s Super Service, formerly Bender’s, and Roy’s about 1960. In addition I have an extensive photo file of images we took on numerous visits. I can use one, two, or three but not all. Which do I choose?
Now, magnify that by hundreds of cities, towns, and sites. It is a wonderful problem to have, and I am excited to have access to hundreds of photos never before published.
So, the month of February, with the specter of federal jury duty in Prescott hanging over my head, is full from daylight to late at night. My dearest friend is so patient during these final weeks of a project and for that I am quite grateful.
Perhaps, we can escape for a weekend in March. I am thinking a night at the Wigwam , a visit with Kumar, maybe a stroll on Santa Monica Pier, a stop at Auto Books Aero Books in Burbank, a pleasant dinner at some little Route 66 roadhouse, and a picnic in the desert near Amboy would suffice.