Who would have thought?

Who would have EVER thought that I'd wind up being a published author. I certainly never had that in mind, yet I find myself in that position. How odd. How fun!

"Tales of the Road-Highway 61"-- The Book is now out in fine bookstores across the Midwest and on Amazon.com. The book is beautiful beyond my wildest dreams. Denny-the-photographer took some lovely photos, and the Minnesota Historical Society archives added some great old pictures to create a very nice package of images and words. 

When the Minnesota Historical Society Press asked me to write a companion book to the public television documentary  I remember thinking at time that they must be crazy. Why would they ask ME to write a book?  I never really thought about writing anything long-form. I'm used to writing news copy. Quickly. Concisely. The process of writing a book has been quite a journey. Thank God I had a wonderful editor!!!

Today, I had the great good fortune of speaking for and signing books on behalf of the Winona County Historical Society. I was surprised at the number of people in attendance. How nice to see many of the people who initially helped me some 6 years ago when this project was just a glimmer of an idea. How humbling that people would pay their hard earned dollars to buy something I created. It is quite odd to be asked for an autograph. You'd want someone like Elizabeth Taylor, or Robert Redford or Garrison Keillor to sign your book. Cathy Wurzer's signature just doesn't stack up. 

Earlier this week, I was signing books in Grand Marais for the Cook County Historical Society's event. (Which is where the photo was taken.)  Both of those groups were incredibly helpful and supportive. There was NO way I could have ever written the book nor produced the documentary without them. Someone at work asked why I was planning on dividing the proceeds among the historical societies and local history groups along the Minnesota stretch of Highway 61. Why not keep all the money for myself? Here is the answer to that question. These groups need the money more than I do right now.  Yes, I'm still raising money to produce the documentary, but these organizations rely (to a large extent) on donor dollars and volunteers. Few have big paid staffs. They do incredible work. They have helped me. I wish to help them. It is that simple.

This weekend, while I'm busy signing books, my crew continues to shoot. The Red Wing Pottery and the Sheldon Theater in Red Wing are the focal points this weekend. We are closing in on the end and the weather is closing in on us!!!!!

A Bug in your Ear...

...and, if my film crew was any indication this past weekend, a bug (actually swarms of bugs) were in and on more than their ears!!

We were shooting some of the last bits of road and driving video with our "Star Car" (the '46 Cadillac) and were on an abandoned stretch of Highway 61 outside of Kellogg, Minnesota when swarms of those Ladybug Look-alikes (ie: Asian beetles) attacked! They were everywhere and those little pests BITE!!! (Plus they leave a noxious yellow stain if you decide to squish them)

I was in the Cadillac, and mostly kept from being bothered, but the guys were pretty annoyed by the flying pests. Despite the bugs and a thick blanket of clouds (that were NOT supposed to be in the weather forecast) we shot some very nice footage. Photographer Denny Behr went to great lengths (and heights) to get excellent shots of the car. I'm very pleased.

We still need to do some more shooting but all the principle photography is done. I'm so relieved. When I have more time, I'll write a bit about our last big road trip of last week. A week's worth of shooting from St. Paul to LaCrescent. Exhausting but worth it.

Right now, I need to get a tire on one of our crew cars. Poor thing. We drove it so much, the right front passenger side tire deflated like a pancake, and was discovered as I was trying to get to work this morning. It has been a fantastic start to the day!

I hope your day is better!

Who's in charge here?

I believe, for the next few days, Mother Nature is in charge of our shoot schedule.

We spent Saturday in Bayport and Red Wing Minnesota. Those of you who know Minnesota geography are now scratching your heads wondering why I selected Bayport for a location shoot because it is nowhere near Highway 61. You are correct. This is where the Executive Producer (re: Me) gets to decide how best to convey the spirit and nuance of a part of the script that deals with what remains of those early days of highway travel. The old, two pump gas stations, for instance, are largely gone EXCEPT for a lovingly restored gas station/garage in Bayport. The Minnesota Historical Society has a nifty black and white photo of the station in the 1930's, and viewers will see that photo, and it will slowly "morph" into how it looks today (virtually the same) as I walk into the frame with the Bayport station behind me. I think it will be a nice effect.

At any rate, I didn't stop to think that the St. Croix Valley and Bayport were in line for some frost Saturday morning and we began shooting at the break of day, (the coldest time of the morning I might add) and on screen, all you see are clouds of steam coming from my mouth as I attempt to spit out my comments between chattering teeth. There purports to be an old Hollywood secret to keep that from happening in cold weather shoots. Producers have actors suck on ice cubes between takes. I tried that. Doesn't work. It just makes you colder than you already are!

We did get some nice takes (as the atmosphere warmed up) and then it was off to Red Wing for more work, including a nice interview about a 1930's era gangster found dead by the side of Highway 61. It has quite a twist to it but you'll have to wait to find out more.

The weather the remainder of Saturday was simply stunning with beautiful light with which to shoot. Unfortunately, today (Sunday) Mother Nature has decided to be a little petulant and it is windy, cloudy and rainy. I'm a bit of a weather geek, so early this morning, I checked the forecast and decided to make a run for Barnum Minnesota, where we had been rained out a couple of weeks ago.
We managed to get there, shoot my on-camera standups and some footage of the town itself, before it completely clouded over and the winds picked up to more than 25 miles an hour. Mother Nature is certainly in charge, and I'm just along for the ride.

Because the forecast looks pretty dismal this coming week (the week I took off work to finish all my standups from St. Paul to LaCrescent) we will work inside Monday and Tuesday doing some key interviews. Wednesday is a travel day and with luck, the rest of the week will be nice enough to really come close to finishing up my on camera work. Keep your fingers crossed. (and put in a good word for me with Mother Nature!)