New Release From M.M. Gornell

Lies of Convenience

Lies of Convenience available in Paper and eBook

Available at:
Amazon 

Smashwords 

 B&N 

And signed copies by emailing Author directly mmgornell@earthlink.net

Website: http://www.mmgornell.com
BLOG: http://www.mmgornell.wordpress.com

Book Signing at the Wagon Wheel Motel on October 7, 2011

Book Signing at the Wagon Wheel Motel on October 7, 2011

Jim Hinckley, award winning author of Route 66 Backroads, Backroads of Arizona, The Big Book of Car Culture, Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Greetings from Route 66, and Ghost Towns of Route 66 takes to the road

Jim Hinkley

For more than twenty years Jim Hinckley, award winning author and photographer has served as America’s travel guide to the wonders only found on the back roads and lost highways through his books, feature articles, a daily blog, and in interviews with Jay Leno, on AM Arizona, and on other nationally televised television and radio programs. Now Jim turns his talents toward the most ambitious project to date – a Route 66 encyclopedia and atlas that will chronicle the 85 year history of America’s most famous highway and the people who wrote that history.

To ensure this is the definitive work about America’s most famous highway, Jim is again taking to the road to capture images of its faded glory. Along the way he will extol its virtues through speaking engagements and at book signings.

Ghost Towns of Route 66

With Ghost Towns of Route 66 the reader rides along on an odyssey of discovery to places where the neon hasn’t cast a glow in more than a half century and only the wind stirs the dust on Route 66. Filled with the colorful prose expected of Jim, and stunning photography by Kerrick James and Jim Hinckley, Ghost Towns of Route 66 the book is a delight for armchair travelers and adventurers alike.

In Backroads of Route 66 iconic Route 66 was portrayed as a portal to a wide array of adventures, historic sites, and scenic wonders only found with short detours from the world’s most famous highway. Photographs by Kerrick James, Shellee Graham, Jim Ross, and Rick and Nora Bowers, as well as historic photos from the author’s collection, enliven the concise, informative text with colorful vibrancy.

A previous book in the back roads series, Backroads of Arizona, introduced readers to singularly unique and often missed Arizona attractions such as Crown King, the Senator Highway, and Hualapai Mountain Park.

The Big Book of Car Culture is an award winning, fun filled, illustrated encyclopedic work on all things automotive from the evolution of crash test dummies and tow trucks to the development of the Ford Mustang and the history of road striping that was the subject of a recent interview with Jay Leno.

Greetings from Route 66, a compilation for which Jim wrote the chapter introductions, is a time capsule and post card chronicling almost 85 years of memories on America’s most famous highway.

In Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Jim took readers along for a ride to some of the most fascinating and colorful ghost towns in the southwest from Native American metropolises and Spanish colonial outposts to legendary Tombstone and historic Hillsboro.

For more information see:

ghost_towns_1.pdf

ghost_towns_2.pdf

Route 66 Sightings

Route 66 Sightings

Ghost Town Press announces the release of Route 66 Sightings, a collection of images from the portfolios of roadside
photographers Jerry McClanahan, Jim Ross, and Shellee Graham. This beautiful coffee table book defines the Route 66
experience, telling the story of the road through six galleries of stunning photographs, each with its own tale to tell.
Spanning thirty years, Sightings is a culmination of their individual and collective efforts as writers, photographers, and
advocates of the legendary highway.

McClanahan and Ross are both accomplished highway historians and are widely published as photographers and writers.
Graham, whose Route 66 photo exhibition toured the US for over a decade, has been photographing the Mother Road
since 1990. All three are multiple award winners.

Route 66 Sightings is available through the publisher, at on-line bookstores, and at gift shops along Route 66.

The History of a Route 66 Icon: The Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66

The History of a Route 66 Icon: The Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66

The Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri is the oldest continuously operating motel on Route 66. The Ozark stone cottages with their Tudor style architecture have attracted thousands of travelers since the 1930s. The building in front served as the Wagon Wheel Café with a small building next door for a gas station. The famous neon Wagon Wheel sign was added in 1947.

Travelers came to eat, buy gas, and some stayed at the modern tourist cabins with the advertised steam heat. Now, Riva Echols, sister of Wagon Wheel Motel owner Connie Echols, has written the history of this Missouri Landmark in her book The History of a Route 66 Icon: The Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66.

Connie Echols purchased the old motel in 2009, and with hands-on work and a financial commitment, restored the motel as a premier Route 66 lodging that holds its place on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.

Riva became intrigued with the motel’s history and began interviewing, checking old records, and compiling the history of the motel that will soon reach its 75^th birthday. With 102 pages of text and photos, both historical and current, Echols, follows the history of Route 66 development and the evolution of the motel through the decades.

The book begins with the development of Route 66 and travelers’ options in the early days of Route 66 travel. The Wagon Wheel’s first owners Robert and Margaret Martin put their hopes and resources into the Wagon Wheel Cafe, tourist cabins, and a small gas station building.

Leo Friesenhan, stonemason and designer of the Wagon Wheel, has a colorful life that is detailed in the history. The old buildings have had many changes, but time has proven they were built to last, and the book covers the architectural details of the buildings.

Conversations with waitresses and others associated with the motel provide some flavor and humor in the chronicle of the Wagon Wheel, as do the characters and personalities of the Wagon Wheel owners.

The second owners John and Winifred Mathis took over in the 1940s and added the neon sign that still beckons travelers to the Wagon Wheel. The Mathises also changed the name and made other changes to modernize what had become a popular stop along the road for both lodging and café food.

Sadie Mae Pratt and her husband Bill added vitality to the running of the Wagon Wheel Café during their years of the café’s history.

Pauline Roberts and her first husband Wayne took over the motel in the 1960s.  Later, when Wayne passed away, Pauline ran the motel by herself with the help of her faithful assistant Roy Mudd until she remarried to Harold Armstrong.  It was always said that the motel “was Pauline’s,” and she was instrumental in the motel getting Landmark status.

After Pauline and Roy Mudd passed, and Harold became ill, the Wagon Wheel went downhill until 2009 when Connie Echols purchased it.

Riva Echols chronicles the changes that her sister Connie has undertaken as the Wagon Wheel Motel steps into another decade with restoration and a new generation of travelers. Many before and after photos fill the pages of the last part of the book.

If you want to appreciate the Wagon Wheel’s place in Route 66 history, read Riva Echol’s book. Purchase The History of a Route 66 Icon: The Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66 on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. Signed copies are available at Connie’s Shoppe at The Wagon Wheel Motel.

The Recent Past Preservation Network is now accepting submissions for our Summer 2011 issue of the RPPN Bulletin!

From the Recent Past Preservation Network:

“Right now, RPPN is accepting submission proposals for our Spring issue, which will be released in July. We have room for 5-8 articles right now and space will go fast. If you are interested in writing an article please contact us at newsletter@recentpast.org.

RPPN welcomes all contributions, whether it be a news item, a story about preservation efforts, research & resources, upcoming events, or anything else related to the preservation of modernism and the recent past.”

Launch Party in Rolla on May 25

From Stevie Kearse of the Rolla Chamber of Commerce:

“We would like to invite you to the official launch party for the June
edition of Missouri Life’s Route 66 publication that will be held on
May 25 at Public House Brewery from 5:00-6:30 p.m.  This publication
features the Rolla Tourism 2 page spread and a feature on Public House
Brewery.  The celebration will include food, drinks, and door prizes.

This is the official launch party of the June edition and Missouri
Life is inviting their clients and contacts to attend the celebration
in Rolla.  This Route 66 publication also celebrates the 85th Birthday
of Route 66.

We hope to see you there!”

Missouri’s Haunted Route 66 – Ghosts Along the Mother Road

The History Press is pleased to introduce a new book by Janice Tremeear.

Alongside the nostalgic appeal of Route 66 lurk ghostly roadside hitchhikers, the Goatman of Rolla, amusement park spirits, Civil War dead and the shadows thrown by the mighty Thunderbird. Spanning three hundred dangerously curving miles, the stretch of the Mother Road in Missouri earned the title of “Bloody 66,” and some of its stopping places are marked by equally grim history. The Lemp Mansion saw family members commit suicide one by one. Springfield’s Pythian Castle was an orphanage before becoming a military hospital and housing World War II prisoners of war. Follow Janice Tremeear as she takes a detour down Zombie Road, peers into the matter of the Joplin Spook Light and even stays overnight in Missouri’s most haunted locations to discover what makes the Show Me State such a lively place for the dead.

Born in St. Louis, Janice Tremeear has lived most of her life in Missouri. She is a second-generation dowser. In tune with the paranormal from an early age, she now directs her interest and research into investigating the unknown with her team Route 66 Paranormal Alliance. She has three grown children and four grandchildren. She currently lives in Springfield, Missouri.

Meet the Author!

September 25th at 7pm at Pythian Castle in Springfield, MO
October 16th from 2-5 at Prosperity School Bed & Breakfast in Joplin, MO
October 28th at 7pm at The Library Station (2535 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield, MO)

Author Seeks Information for Route 66 Encyclopedia & Atlas

by Jim Hinkley

My goal with this project is to chronicle the first 85 years of Route 66 history, to preserve it for future generations, and to further fuel the resurgent interest in the highway.

To ensure this work is historically correct, provides a comprehensive overview of Route 66, and is as current as possible, I am petitioning historic societies, museums, businesses, and Route 66 organizations for assistance in the form of suggestions for material to be included, contact information, historic information, and information pertaining to the acquisition of material to be used as illustrations.

General topics for inclusion:

1)      Community profile – a profile of each community on all alignments of Route 66.

2)      Biographies – concise biographical sketches of individuals that have played key roles in the roads history. Examples; Bob Waldmire, Cyrus Avery, Michael Wallis, etc.

3)      Notable events that are directly associated with Route 66 or its predecessor auto trails such as the National Old Trails Highway or Ozark Trail. Examples; the Desert Classic automobile races 1908 – 1914, the Bunion Derby, etc.

4)      Predecessor highway history – the National Old Trails Highway, Ozark Trail, etc.

5)      Current businesses and their history – this category would be historic or new businesses such as Pops in Arcadia and Afton Station in Afton.

6)      Historic businesses now closed – examples for this category would include the Painted Desert Trading Post and Coral Court Motel.

7)      Route 66 entertainment – television shows and movies filmed on Route 66 or locations that were used in these films.

8)      Personal stories – short stories of personal experiences on Route 66 that will serve to illustrate its evolution.

Thank you for the assistance.

Contact information:

Jim Hinkley

1308 Stockton Hill Rd.

Suite A, PMB 228

Kingman, AZ 86401-5190

928-753-5910

jimhinckley@yahoo.com

Voyageur Press/Quayside Publishing – publisher

Text and photography by Jim Hinckley, author of Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Backroads of Arizona, Route 66 Backroads, The Big Book of Car Culture, Ghost Towns of Route 66 (fall 2010), and contributor for the compilation Greetings from Route 66 (fall 2010).

New Book About Route 66 in St. Louis Now Available on Friends of the Mother Road Web Site

by Kip Welborn

Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis Our organization is offering for sale a book I penned called “Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis.” It is a book that I hope will guide you down the many alignments that Route 66 takes through the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County-from the Illinois suburbs on the “Eastside” to the Franklin County Line (and will hopefully compliment the new signs that you will find cruising Route 66 in St. Louis courtesy of the Route 66 Association of Missouri). It also points out various “places to look out for” while you are cruising the different alignments, as well as other tidbits about Route 66 in St. Louis. The Book is divided up into the “Salisbury” alignment (which crossed the McKinley Bridge), the “Chouteau” alignment (which crossed the Municipal/MacArthur Bridge); the “Official/Bypass Route” (which crossed the Chain of Rocks Bridge and went around St. Louis); the “City” Route (which crossed the Chain of Rocks and Municipal/MacArthur Bridges and went through the City of St. Louis.); and the later Routes which crossed the Veterans and Poplar St. Bridges. While not every twist and turn in these alignments is covered, you will hopefully see not only most of Route 66 in St. Louis but also a lot of what this great City has to offer. The book sells for $10.00. Mailing costs are an additional $2.25. A couple of bucks will go towards putting the book together, and the rest will go to Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. for preservation efforts (including its efforts to preserve the Luna Motel Sign in Mitchell, IL). It is in black and white and bound so that it is easy to flip the pages while you are cruising. Here’s a chance to figure out Route 66 in St. Louis and how to help icons on our Beloved Mother Road all at once. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Friends of the Mother Road, Inc., thanks you for your patronage and your contribution to its preservation work….Kip Welborn, Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. Visit web site to buy