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{New 1-2007} "TRAVELOGUE FROM AN UNRULY YOUTH" |
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Posted by: jessebur on 2006-11-15 00:53:40
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"TRAVELOGUE" review from David Mrozek, MICHIGAN RAILFAN ~ March-April 2007 issue ...
"Growing up in a railroad town can change life's direction. Author D. C. Jesse Burkhardt was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan, at the tail end of its prominence as an important railroad town. At the time, Jackson was home to two railroads ~ the New York Central and the Grand Trunk Western. The NYC was the major player, with lines radiating out of the city in seven different directions. There was a roundhouse, large classification yard, and a dispatching office in the handsome brick depot. Not surprisingly, the author hung aournd the tracks, became a rail enthusiast, and developed a passion for riding freight trains.
"FREIGHT WEATHER was the title of Burkhardt's third published work (in 2001) and is also a slang expression for the summer months, when the weather is favorable for riding empty boxcars across the country. 'Travelogue From an Unruly Youth' is about Burkhardt's 'freight weather' jounreys of 1977. In the preface to his 2001 book, the author mentioned that he lived in Ashland, Oregon, for a few years before moving to Corvallis ~ in Oregon's Willamette Valley ~ in Septmeber 1977. Both towns were located on Southern Pacific lines, about 225 miles apart.
This volume is a detailed account of that move, which took five months to complete, and took him there by way of Michigan, Ohio, Nova Scotia, Florida, and California. For 24-year-old Burkhardt, it was the trip of a lifetime, with no lack of excitment along the way. More than 25 years after the journey, a belated surprise arrived in Burkhardt's mailbox, which provided an interesting ending to the story.
"A gifted writer to be sure, this book is without question his finest effort."
NOTE: More reviews to be posted soon....
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| [Travelogue, New 12-2006]
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"TAKE THE RIDE: TRAVEL LIGHT AND TRAVEL ALONE" ~ Nanaimo, British Columbia, June 14, 1979: Cover photo by M. Groshans
HOT REVIEW I: Posted March 15, 2008
From reader Susan G., San Francisco, California ...
"I waited to resume reading Travelogue for when I could really absorb myself into it and did so over the past few days. It's a hard book to put down. What a journey! Doug has done a wonderful job of bringing the sights, smells and feelings associated with train travel to the written page. Particularly freight train travel, which so few of us know about, but for the time was a dream many shared. The camaraderie of the adventure, the vast open plains where there wasn't a soul for miles, just train tracks setting the path forward. The characters met along the way. A happy life among the bare necessities. The vernacular of the times. He brought it all to life.
And then there's the inner journey ~ a glimpse into the restless soul, into what drives men forward in their lives. We may not be from different planets, but we are wired differently. But the common thread, no matter where he searched for warmth and comfort, was you ~ he came back to you physicially and in thought and spirit and finally, with calm assurance and at peace with himself.
Of course the reader begs to ask, "Doug ~ how could you ever leave a woman like that????" And the answer was because, of course, he had to follow his instincts ~ we all have to follow our personal paths."
HOT REVIEW II: Posted December 5, 2007
From reader Susan C., Mosier, Oregon ...
"I read your book and loved every page. In what may have been the only generation free enough to pursue dreams at such a young age, you took a very focused and committed route. In an era where commitments in relationships were shaky, you held fast to your commitment to yourself.
The beauty of the book for me was in finally getting a glimpse into the male mind at the time. You guys had the same angst we did in relationships and I never understood that. The male mind was at once very simple and complex to me in the 1970s. I loved reading your inner-voice, which I took as a sort of `everyman' voice from the time. Clearly, you knew how to connect.
Thank you for sharing so deeply and for taking me on a fascinating romp where I anticipated men to be mean, but who were actually wonderful to you and yet there was danger ~ and you even found that. Many of us did when we least expected it."
HOT REVIEW III: Posted May 30, 2007
From reader Scott Sparling, Amazon.com ...
"A boxcar journey and a journey of the heart:
Another great railroad book from Burkhardt ... although this one's a lot more than trains. This is the story we all lived, or wanted to live ~ it's what happens when youth, freedom, freight trains and love get mixed together. Imagine riding freight all across the west, while trying to figure out the ways of the heart, and writing it all down ~ and then coming back to it thirty years later and making sense of it all.
If you ever hopped a freight, or wanted to, you could read it just for that. If you ever followed your heart wherever it led, good or bad, you could read it for that. This is a personal and honest book, full of love, rebellion and redemption. What more is there? My advice is get it and read it."
HOT REVIEW IV: Posted August 24, 2007
From reader James Tindall, Amazon.com ...
"Mr. Burkhardt has written another fine monograph in celebration of railroads. His previous books have captures the history, technology, and geography of trains. This book expands upon this and tells a tale of love of trains and of women. Through his travels in the West and Old Northwest the writer weaves parallel stories of love: his love of the rolling sojourn and his haphazard love with Marie.
This is a book of celebration for Burkhardt. He is able to do well writing of this poetic and endangered mode of transportation, and he found his Marie...and married her.
I look forward to his next publication."
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Traveling the North American continent via freight train brought freedom, passion, romance, adventure, and danger ~ a heady concoction for someone in his early 20s.
The writer journeyed along a "pipeline to freedom" on a bed of steel, ties, and gravel, never sure where his path would carry him from day to day. Yet part of the cost to those nomadic highs was leaving behind a woman who cared dearly for him, and that severing continued to reach him even as he blasted magically across the map on a unique geographic and spiritual quest.
I rode with an inspiring soundtrack in my head and heart, and when this tale someday makes it onto the "silver screen," I'll urge the producers to stay true to the musical vision that helped propel me through the scenery ... here are 12 tunes, in no particular order:
A Soundtrack While Riding North American Rails ...
"Couldn't Get it Right": Climax Blues Band
"Travelin' Man": Bob Seger
"Boxcars": Joe Ely
"Cowboy Song": Thin Lizzy
"Wild One" Thin Lizzy
"Tangled Up In Blue": Bob Dylan
"Hurry Sundown": The Outlaws
"Fight or Fall": Thin Lizzy
"Heard it in a Love Song": Marshall Tucker Band
"Travelin' Shoes": Elvin Bishop
"Double Yellow Line": The Bonniwell Music Machine
"Sitting In Limbo": Jimmy Cliff
After long months and thousands of miles of changing landscapes, a new revelation would hit him: Marie was gone. The sweet lover he'd cherished before wanderlust and a bewildering desire for another woman gripped him was unable to believe any longer, and the path back to the relationship was blocked, creating a circle of pain and loss.
Nearly 30 years later, the unforeseen arrival of a letter caused the world to shift again.
D. C. Jesse Burkhardt's wonderful TRAVELOGUE FROM AN UNRULY YOUTH carries us into a hidden and unconventional world, weaving a romantic tale of roadside mystery and the universe-altering power of love.
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WEB SPECIAL: The book is going for $15. For autographed books via mail, send $15 plus $4.60 (for priority mail shipping) to D. C. Jesse Burkhardt/ROLLING DREAMS PRESS at P.O. Box 1054, White Salmon, Wash. 98672
And SUPPORT my supporters: The Book Stop (Hood River, Ore.); Karen's Books (San Marcos, Calif.); Waucoma Bookstore (Hood River, Ore.); Klindt's Booksellers (The Dalles, Ore.); Amazon.com; Artisan's Jewelers (White Salmon, Wash.); Antiques & Oddities (Bingen, Wash.).; The Book Peddler (White Salmon, Wash.)
Created on 2006-11-15 00:17:49 by jessebur
Updated on 2008-03-16 13:24:59 by jessebur
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