ROUTE 66 IN THE NEWS, LOOKING TOWARD 2015, AND A VIEW FROM MY CORNER OF THE WORLD
If the recent spate of international news stories about Route 66 is any indication, the old road is growing in popularity as never before. In fact, I would say that it just might be more popular today than at any time in its history.
Let’s see, the LA Times recently ran a story about Kumar Patel and his family, the proprietors of the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, and Route 66 in California. The feature was picked up by a wide array of papers throughout the country.
The Toronto Star recently ran a feature on Santa Monica with a small plug for the double six. A few weeks ago they ran an interview with yours truly.
The forthcoming exhibit at the Autry National Center of the American West is garnering a great deal of media attention. Here is a feature in the Liberty Voice.
The 75th anniversary of John Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath is fodder for a wide array of news stories such as this one published by the Daily Bulletin. In this work Route 66 was forever immortalized as the Mother Road.
An interesting story in the Pittsburg (Kansas) Morning Sun provides some interesting food for thought. Imagine an entire curriculum that blends math, history, and social studies in one package that centers on Route 66.
On May 7, a nice human interest feature about the double six appeared in The Courier published in Glasglow, Montana. In the Sunday Express published in London, England, Route 66 made a list of twenty-five things to do before you die.
Meanwhile, as development for the Route 66 International Festival in Kingman continues to unfold, plans for a full fledged Route 66 convention in an Illinois community for 2015 are being discussed. A conference with a lengthy slate of speakers representing the entire Route 66 community, work shops, informational exposition, and round table symposium could be a major step toward ensuring that legendary Route 66 remains relevant and popular for decades to come.
Meanwhile, in our homestead I am closing out a delightful week that included a wonderful lunch and discussion with Professor Nick Gerlich who has been exploring early alignments of Route 66 and the National Old Trails Highway in Arizona, a flurry of festival development issues, research for the next book, promotion for the recent release, and the scheduling of speaking engagements for the next few months. As hinted at in the title for this mornings post, here is a view from my corner of the world. This is an Arizona sunrise as we saw it from my front door this morning.
This is a hint at how I spent the first day of a three day weekend. Not shown in this mornings postings are the remains of the front bathroom or a wonderful buffalo burger barbecue that my dearest friend and I closed out the day with.
Folks, have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. However, don’t forget to take time to reflect on what the holiday represents.