Michael Wallis on the Lincoln Highway

When you hear the name of author Michael Wallis, that usually conjures up Route 66. His "Mother Road" book went a long way toward bringing this road "Back" from its decommissioned state back in the late 1980s to the forefront of the old road movement it enjoys today. Plus, he was the voice of the sheriff on the popular "Cars" movie of last year. This venue went a long way to making even more Americans aware of this great road.

However, this month, Wallis and photographer Michael S. Williamson, have just had their new book, "The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate" published. Currently, they are making a road tour of cities located along the Lincoln to promote it. They will be in my home state of Illinois on July 28th and I intend to get an autographed copy in either Joliet or Franklin Grove.

I have met and talked with Michael several times since I got the 66 "bug" in 2002.

Susan Leigh Taylor, of KCBS in San Francisco, Ca, interviewed him on July 12th. She started off by saying the Lincoln Highway runs 3,389 miles through 13 states, and, "It is just the thing to satisfy those with a Jones for kitsch, an itch for the wide-open road, and a hankering to see the real America." I liked the way she put it.

Michael Wallis said that before the Lincoln, America didn't have any highways other than roads made of dirt or pressed rock. This was the first transcontinental one which ran from Times Square in New York City all the way to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

It is the Father Road to Route 66, the Mother Road, predating 66 by 15 years, 1913 to 1928. You can, like on 66, still drive 85% of the original route.

"Life does truly begin at the off-ramp, and if you need to take the superslab (roadie slang for interstates), those slabs of monotony, that's fine, but you can take a break and take in an episode, or you can take in a spoonful of American before we became generic." In other words, you can get off the interstate to visit a stretch of the Lincoln, or even a small town.

Of course, there are many things of interest to see along the way. When asked to pick one, Wallis immediately mentioned Taylor's Made Rite in Marshalltown, Iowa, where, for five generations, loosemeat sandwiches have been made by the same family. You'll need a spoon to eat is as the 100% Iowa Angus meat will fall right off the bun.

I first got interested in the old road movement by reading about and taking a trip on Route 66. However, my interests soon branched out to the Lincoln, US Route 12, US Route 20, and the National Road. Today it includes pretty much any non-interstate road.

You can hear the whole interview and get a short writeup by going to KCBS's website.

For info on the tour:

www.lincolnhighwaybook.com

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. --RoadDog