I was sitting at a luncheon table with award-winning author/filmmaker, Steven Beschloss this afternoon at the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) conference in New York City earlier today. We were discussing our various writing projects. His - a new book; Adrift - Charting our Course Back to a Great Nation, is coming out in July. Mine, of course, is my Route 6 trip and this blog. I mentioned that I was basically UN-political, pointing to my very purple shirt with pride. "I'll be driving through blue states and red states and this is the blended color I hope to see," I laughed. Steven grinned and quipped - "You're creating a mythology around Route 6, the same as has been done with Route 66."That's an interesting take on my humble project. As I see it, I'm just driving along one long road and writing about what I see, what I eat, who I meet and where I sleep. If a mythology creeps up around it, that's for others to interpret. I'll be cruising along US Route 6, but, with all contacts I've established along the way, I certainly won't be adrift.
I'm not sure an old road has to have a mythology to be interesting. Sometimes its history, or even the charm of the places through which it passes, are plenty.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's still less famous than its twinned sister (Route 66), the stories that come from it - or are told about it - hold the potential of a seemingly new discovery around each curve, over each hill. Each traveler a pioneer traveling into the great big world of America. Thanks for sharing your experiences along this beautiful highway!
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