William Least Heat-Moon

[November 5th, 2008]

You really should read: Blue Highways

Americans do their best travel writing in the wake of personal crises. It’s true of Elizabeth Gilbert, it’s true of Jim Harrison, but it all started with William Least Heat-Moon. In 1978, after Heat-Moon lost his job and separated from his wife, he figured, why not hit the road? His subsequent bestselling travelogues have attracted a huge following and changed the way the world thinks of the American landscape. JOHN MINERVINI. 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 9. University of Oregon Nonfiction Stage.