JAMES A.WARD
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 5
PART I: PHOEBES YOUTH
1. Phoebes Ancestry 25
2. Storm of the Decade 45
PART II: THE SEETHING SIXTIES
3. Steamy Red Stick 65
4. The Dairy Queen Klan 74
5. Long Hot March 89
PART III: LITERARY CONNECTIONS
6. Sugar-Boy 111
7. Road Writings 123
PART IV: BACK ROADS
8. Out on the Blue Roads Again 147
9. Home Again, Lickety-Split 166
10. Decision Time 187
Chapter Notes 201
Bibliography 207
Index 211
Description
In July 1965, an Artesian Turquoise Chevrolet Biscayne rolled off a General Motors assembly line. Little did James Ward know that this car would become a cherished member of his family, playing a role in his wedding, honeymoon, years of graduate school, birth of his daughter, and her wedding, among countless other memories. Four decadesand a lot of historylater, the author still drives this rolling historical artifact dubbed Phoebe.
Using the Biscayne as a narrative thread, this first-person account explores facets of American history the author and Phoebe experienced since the mid1960s, such as a KKK cross-burning, a civil rights march, Hurricane Betsy, numerous local diners, motels, and parks, and interesting people and out-of-the-way places. Looking for remnants of their youth, they drove across back roads in twenty-first century America. Photographs accompany this unique memoir.
About the Author
James A. Ward is Guerry Professor of History at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He, his wife, and Phoebe live in Chattanooga.
Reviews
Highly literate, absorbing narrativeHemmings Classic Car.
highly literate, absorbing narrativeHemmings Classic Car
