New Route 66 Centennial Book Released by Oklahoma Authors

Oklahoma historians and authors Jim Ross and Shellee Graham’s new book, Route 66: The First 100 Years, was released by Reedy Press this week. The book also features a foreword by Michael Wallis. The book takes readers on a journey through more than a century of development and the evolution of Route 66, including its rise, fall, and renaissance.

As the world’s most famous highway, Route 66 conjures up images of dreamers, road-trippers, migrants, and nomads. On a deeper level, it is a story of escape, triumph, deliverance, and adventure during the best and worst of times. From the dawn of the auto age to surviving the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years to memorable mid-century family vacations, destinies were played out on the route, leaving indelible impressions on millions. Those pilgrimages, embedded in our history, continue today, undertaken by millions more seeking to follow the same path and re-imagine those times.

Ladies of legend, the influence of Indigenous America, neon-splashed boulevards, tourist traps, motor courts, trading posts, and heroes both remembered and forgotten—all these and more await discovery between these covers. Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of photographs, many of them vintage, the saga of Route 66 is uniquely told in a compelling narrative that celebrates the centennial of the route and pays homage to all whose lives were shaped or changed by this wondrous road.

Route 66: The First 100 Years, is crafted from three decades of traveling, photographing, and writing about the route by Ross and Graham. Previous books by them include Route 66 Sightings, Tales from the Coral Court, Route 66 Crossings, and Secret Route 66.

Route 66: The First 100 Years is available wherever books are sold. The first official book signing event will be held at Route 66 Road Fest in Tulsa on Saturday, June 21st.