Stew Magnuson, author of The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83 in Texas, will be loading up a car with a trunk
full of books, and a digital projector to embark on a barnstorming book tour of the communities
found along what was once called the Great Plains Highway.
The journey begins at the top of Texas in the panhandle
Sunday, Oct. 21 and ends 450 miles later at the foot of Hill Country in
Junction on Oct. 27.
“A book is never truly finished until I have a chance to
present it to the communities in which it took place. I’m really excited to
talk about the joys of traveling Highway 83 in these small towns I have grown
to love,” Magnuson says.
His multi-media lecture draws upon his extensive collection
of historic and present day photos of life along the road, which extends more
than 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico.
Attendees will be amazed by how much there is to see and do
on Highway 83 in Texas, and beyond.
The tour dates are:
West
Texas Trails Meeting
(registration
required)
Snyder,
Texas
Sunday,
Oct. 22
Fall
Foliage Festival (signing only)
Canadian,
Texas
11
a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday.
Oct. 23
Perry
Memorial Library
Perryton,
Texas
Noon
Tuesday,
Oct. 24
Collingsworth
County Public Library
Wellington,
Texas
7
p.m.
Wednesday,
Oct. 25
Anson
Public Library
Noon
Hardin-Simmons
University Campus
Skiles
Building, Room 131
Abilene,
Texas
8
p.m.
Thursday,
Oct. 26
Carnegie Library of Ballinger
Ballinger, Texas
Ballinger, Texas
Noon
Menard
Public Library
6
p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27
Kimble
County Library
Junction,
Texas
Noon
Award-winning
author Magnuson set out in 2009 to chronicle the past and present along this
historically rich highway, traveling its length over the course of a two trips.
Over the past eight years, Magnuson has carved out a place as the foremost
expert on the fifth longest federal highway. He founded and administers the
Fans of Route 83 — The Great Plains Highway page on Facebook, which now has
more than 3,600 members. His usroute83.com website serves as a place for travel
tips for those who want to explore the road. He writes the Highway 83
Chronicles blog about current events.
He
successfully published two previous books about the road, The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83:
The Dakotas and; The Last American
Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83: Nebraska-Kansas-Oklahoma.
He has appeared on South Dakota Public Television and Nebraska Public
Television, and done dozens of book talks and radio spots extolling the
pleasures of traveling what was once called the Great Plains Highway.
Magnuson
is also the author of The Death of
Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge
Border Towns. Published by Texas Tech University Press, it was named the
2009 Nebraska Nonfiction book of the year, a finalist for the Center of Great
Plains Studies book of the year, and was recently named one of the Nebraska’s
150 most important literary works to mark the state’s sesquicentennial this
year. He also penned Wounded Knee 1973:
Still Bleeding, a brief account of the Wounded Knee occupation.
Stew
Magnuson is the author of the Highway 83 Chronicles, a series of three
books about history and life found along U.S. Route 83. The final book, The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83 in Texas was released in March 2017 and follows The Last American Highway: The Dakotas, and The Last American Highway: Nebraska-Kansas-Oklahoma, edition.
All three are available ONLINE or in bookstores and gift shops along Highway 83.
For signed copies or retail opportunities contact him HERE