The friends you meet along the highway.

Throughout this whole process, I have been utterly amazed at the people I've met along the way. If I look at my life as a grand painting, with each person in my life signified by this brush stroke, or that smear of color, than my life canvas is pretty darned vibrant and interesting. 

Take these two gentlemen.  The guy holding my DVD is Mark. He is the owner of Bear Books in little Isanti, Minnesota. (Never had ever been to Isanti until last weekend.) Mark is a guy who doesn't appreciate cell phones or e-mail. Doesn't have a website for his store. It is full to the brim with great regionally produced books. It was an old saloon,  so there is a vintage wooden bar that serves as the business' countertop. At any rate, Mark asked me to sign some books for him if I had time. I'm glad I stopped. What an interesting guy!  

This is Walter. Walter painted this mural of an old street scene in Isanti. 

Walter not only paints, he is a stained glass artist and is wonderfully talented. Walter and Mark are both DELIGHTFUL people. 

Walter, Mark and people like Joanne Hart (see the book for details on the joyful meeting at the original Highway 61 border crossing that I had with Joanne) have all left indelible marks on me and I'm a better person because of them. 

The DVD just came out and is being distributed across the country. Last week, I entered the documentary for Emmy Awards, and will also enter the documentary in several film festivals. I'm also scheduled to be at several civic events up and down the highway this summer so it promises to be busy. That is a good thing. I guess the trip isn't over with yet!

Up and Running!

I'm really proud of my good friend Richard. Richard not only created our website, but also the new on-line "Tales of the Road" store which is now LIVE!! He did a great job and I couldn't have done it without him.

Now, feel free to order as much merchandise as your budget allows! :)

Thank you for all the great e-mails and excitement over "TOTR". (As the crew affectionately calls it) I'm booked solid with speaking engagements and book signings this summer and well into the fall. I never knew what kind of journey this would be, but it has been incredible so far!

I'll see you down the road!

Bob Dylan's Hometown

For those who don't know,  it is Hibbing Minnesota. Hibbing is a fine, working class town in the heart of Minnesota's Iron Range.  Check out a short little video I shot while in Hibbing. 

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"You're in Phase Two!"

That is what my attorney Dan said when I had asked him about getting portions or the entire program of "Tales" on iTunes. I thought that might be something fun---to download portions of the documentary on those nifty little iPhones and other devices. Dan is a high powered, ultra smart, fun lawyer who specializes in entertainment and copyright law.

He kind of chuckled when I said I hadn't a clue as to what happens once the documentary was done. He calls the marketing and distribution of a film "Phase Two" (Heck, this actually feels like Phase 12 after producing the book and the documentary!) and it is a phase beginning filmmakers need to deal with. I can tell you it has been quite an experience!

I'm in the process of getting the DVD done. It should be on store shelves by mid June. I found a great distributor from Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications. I like to keep my business in my own backyard. *(Unless Hollywood calls and then I have to reconsider! :))

Adventure Publications will distribute the DVD to gift stores, Barnes and Noble stores Border's and other bookstores and make it available on Amazon.com. There is a small fee associated with that, but it is far easier than me slogging up and down Highway 61 hawking the DVD myself!!!

I thought it might also be fun to have some images you didn't see in the book made into notecards. A northern Highway 61 version and a southern Highway 61 version. THAT is proving to be much more difficult than I imaged it would be. Who'd think that printing notecards, for a reasonable prices, was so tough! I'm learning a whole different lingo: printing parlance. We are working on the notecards and will offer those for sale too. I guess you can add the titles "author" "executive producer" and now "retailer" to my resume. The additional revenue will be used to supplement the fundraising we did for the documentary! (Yes, we fell a little short in the revenue department...a recession got in the way!)

Keep checking out the website because we expect to have our on-line store up and running within a few days! Remember---Father's Day is coming!! Wouldn't Dad love something to do with Highway 61?? :)