A Road Trip into America’s Hidden Heart

Together, my car and I have traveled every mile of every road on Missouri’s highway map, a 300,000-mile journey to discover the real America beyond the interstate veneer. Real People. Obscure places, Forgotten facts. Along the roadsides we found stories in diners and dives and dead-ends, in graveyards and courthouses and museums, we found history and culture beyond the beaten path, and tales that shout out from America’s flyover country. During this 13-year odyssey I kept notes in 40+ steno notebooks, and eventually wrote the stories that appear in my books and magazine submissions. My speakers bureau presentation will explain why I set out on this journey, and tell some of the stories I encountered along the way. For each audience, I will select stories and subject matter custom-tailored to t their interests. There are 350 million different reasons why people travel. But one common thread runs through them all: stories. People want to hear stories. I’ll give ’em my story, and within that road trip framework, tell more tales.