Dear Readers:
Doc’s favorite version of the classic jazz tune “Route 66” is by Nat King Cole. His voice on the record is so smooth that you can feel almost feel the breeze as you “motor west” from Chicago to L.A. on America’s most legendary highway.
Dr. Ink is old enough to remember a pretty cool TV show back in the day when two hip cats (one played by George Maharis) found love and adventure at stops along Route 66.
The narrative strategy of telling stories at points along the roadway is an ancient one, going back at least to Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” where pilgrims tell stories along the horseback journey from London to Canterbury.
Think about Huck and Jim traveling down the Mississippi.
Think of William Least Heat Moon telling stories about people and places along the nation’s “Blue Highways.”
Let’s call this technique “The Story Road,” and consider its potential for newspaper reporting and feature writing.
On Sunday, April 20, the St. Petersburg Times published a special section of photographs and text entitled “Beauty and the Beasts.” Doc doesn’t much like the title. It would be like calling the TV show “Route 66” something like “Guys and Cars.” The section should have been titled “The Trail.” Or “Route 41.” Or more specifically, “The Tamiami Trail,” one of Florida’s funkiest roadways, extending from Tampa to Miami.
And what wonderful stops along the way: the Ruskin Vegetable farms, the Sarasota art museums, the community of retired circus performers in Gibsonton, the seashell meccas in Fort Myers, the Indian reservation in the Everglades, the domino games on the streets of Little Havana.
All of this is captured wonderfully by the photos of Scott Keeler and the stories of Jeff Klinkenberg. With their editors, they produced an almost ideal marriage of words and visuals (except for the clunky title). Dr. Ink can’t wait to buy the book, so get workin’, guys.
For those newspapers looking for interesting and off-beat story ideas, just think of a line on a map: it could be a back road or highway; a craggy coastline; a line of latitude or longitude; an historic trail.
[ Can you think of other examples of interesting storytelling organized along points of a roadway? ]
