Democratic Vistas

I am the Chair of the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. There, I teach courses in composition and creative nonfiction. My most recent publication is Some of the Words Are Theirs: A Memoir of an Alcoholic Family, which is available on Amazon.com.

Starting July 1, I will be traveling around the country and blogging about what I find. This fall will mark the 50th anniversary of John Steinbeck’s trip around American with Charley, his poodle. I will not attempt to replicate Steinbeck’s trip, except in broad terms. Like Steinbeck, I want to “check the pulse” of America. Our country is going through a difficult time. So, I would like to see how the American people and this grand experiment (democracy) are doing.

When I have made trips like this in the past, there has always been a spiritual dimension. As we travel, as we search for American, we sometimes learn something about ourselves. I am at a turning point in my life. My wife passed away two years ago, and my sons are grown men and living in other cities. The trip will, no doubt, provide an opportunity for me to reflect on where I have been and where I hope to go from here.

I took the photo on the banner of this blog from the “Big Dam Bridge” in Little Rock, where I now live. The bridge is the longest pedestrian and bicycle bridge in the world. In the summer, I try to schedule my evening bike rides so I am crossing the bridge at sunset.  The photograph looks west, down the Arkansas river, which was once an important route to the western territories.

The title for the blog comes from Walt Whitman’s book about how the American people can one day fully realize the ideals of democracy.