Foggy Memory

It was a giant, to a kid. The old hotel towered over Route 66 at Highway 63. Atop a glass penthouse that crowned the roof, a green neon pennant glowed through the fog, framed perfectly by my bedroom window as … Read More

All in a Name

Last time I bought a Powerball ticket, the Rams hadn’t left LA yet. This time I bought one, like almost everybody. I knew my chances were infantesimal, but if you don’t buy a ticket… Turns out I was the victim … Read More

Rock On

Sunday evening. Pedaling my Schwinn Continental through downtown Columbia, I noticed something unusual, so I stopped to watch. Hundreds of tuxedos and gowns bedecking a bizarre bunch of freakers, wild daglo hairdos and stunning face jewelry. Twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, most … Read More

Rafting the Mississippi

The days were getting warmer when I got a call from a good friend alerting me that an adventurous soul was about to experience the dream of every American river rat. He’d built a raft, and was looking for crew … Read More

Kingdom Come

It was 10 p.m. when I reached Kingdom City. Fresh water filled a labyrinth of potholes in the parking lot of the Iron Skillet Truck Stop. The depositor, a monstrous thunderstorm, fled the scene, churning east down the highway, framing … Read More

The Road Home

A road might be beautiful. Or trashy. Or homely.  But always, it’s the way home for somebody.

Erifnus Caitnop

So I set out to feel every crack in Missouri’s pavement. As with all stories – and symphonies and carnal acts – it was an uneven ride. Although a dozen friends and a handful of reporters rode with me on … Read More

I drove all the roads

The map called out the names; I traced the stories. Every fold in the Ozarks, every bend in the rivers, every drive down the main drag in 700 towns reminded me that even as my map sets the stage, it … Read More