It’s always a surprise — and a relief — when a book you’ve been working on for years finally arrives in finished form. Today I was finally able to hold and look through a completed Lincoln Highway Companion, sent on ahead by the printer. Ahh, the smell of fresh ink and new paper!!
Like my last book, Roadside Attractions, this one incorporates written contributions from dozens of friends and fellow old road enthusiasts; it’s an honor to include their roadside recommendations.
No matter whether others like your book or not, you know every image, every fact, every comma had to be chosen, tracked down, and approved. It’s like your child — you love it no matter what. I filmed a little video preview of Lincoln Highway Companion for YouTube that you can play here too.
Tags: highway history, Lincoln Highway, new book, Road trip, travel, U.S. roads
Lincoln Highway News 
April 11, 2009 at 3:22 pm |
Congratulations!
April 12, 2009 at 9:48 am |
Does this mean you’ll no longer be getting up in the middle of the night craving pickles & ice cream?
April 12, 2009 at 9:47 pm |
🙂 Oh I’ll still do that – racing to finish the Ship book is keeping me up….
April 13, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
Looking forward to the “Companion.” It should greatly complement your last book on the LH.
What’s on line after the “Ship?”
April 15, 2009 at 8:38 am |
Thanks RoadDog, I think it’ll be a good source for following the road yet the maps and lists leave room for lots of personal discoveries.
Next up is getting published the memoir of a friend’s dad who was sent to a Wyoming internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII. He was a typical teenager with no idea why someone would want to imprison him and his family. He became a professor of American History and so wrote with insight, personal experience, and humor.
April 15, 2009 at 4:24 pm |
Gee Brian, either your hands are really big or the book is really small.
April 15, 2009 at 6:19 pm |
Yep, they’re roadside giants! Actually, the book is a “companion” both in that it’s a partner to my Greetings book and that it can accompany readers on their road trips. So it’s glove-compartment size, or roughly 6 ” tall and 9″ wide.
April 17, 2009 at 9:28 am |
Congratulations on the book. My wife and I, both photographers (I’m a staff photographer at The Philadelphia Inquirer) have been photographing along the Lincoln Highway since 1997. Early on, we concentrated on Pa., then expanded our travels until last year when we finally completed the entire length. We’re leaving in early May to spend two weeks along the highway in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
Two questions: is it possible to get a copy of your new book (we have the previous edition) in time for our May trip? And, can one drive the original road west of Salt Lake City to Route 93 (near Ely), Nevada? We tried a few years ago to drive from 93, north of Ely, into Utah, but 2 hours of dirt roads later we ran into a reservation and couldn’t continue, so we went up 93 to Wendover instead.
Thanks very much and best wishes.
Eric Mencher
emencher@hotmail.com
http://www.ericmencher.com
April 20, 2009 at 11:45 am |
Hi Eric,
Sounds like you have lots of great photos – and by now, many have become documents of what was.
Not sure if LH Companion will be in stores or on Amazon in early May, you might leave about the time it’s arriving.
Yes, you can drive from SLC to Ely and even make it in one day if you leave early and the rain stays away. Fish Springs, about half-way, is 3-1/2 hours from SLC.
There are reservations but the road is open. Here is an excellent series of posts on the American Road magazine forum about one person’s excursion:
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=383
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=522
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=525
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=529
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=540
http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=543
Good luck – please send us pictures of your adventures so we can all follow along in the fun.
Brian
May 28, 2009 at 5:47 pm |
Brian – Just got our copy of your Lincoln Highway Companion today. I love the size – perfect for the glove box or map pockets in our car. Mary Lou and I have explored a good part of the Lincoln already, from Pennsylvania through Iowa on several occasions, then further west to Evanston, Wyoming on our drive to last year’s LH national conference. We were pleased to see we have visited all of your “must see” spots in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Wyoming, and most of them in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois and Nebraska. Now we need to explore the outer reaches of the LH both east and west. Thanks again for the Companion and your previous LH book – both very helpful as we travel. See you soon in South Bend.
Tom and Mary Lou Lockard
Gambier, Ohio
LH Life Member #33