«Missouri River • Great Plains • Rocky Mountains» | «Radio • Writs • Ride • Resources»

Faces

and the maps lead us to Jo's question:
> what are the criteria for finding that face in the crowd that'll provide some good, or at least interesting, vox?
Jo and I were off to the laundromat one early Chamberlin SD morn. we passed a guy on a bench writing numbers and lines on a bunch of cut-up 6inch-square maps. after we threw our clothes in the washer, I told Jo I'm going back to talk to that guy (had my recording gear w/ me, natch). it was a great intervu: he was canoeing across the country, down the Missouri, to the Mississippi, thru the Great Lakes and little rivers back to his Maine home. added benefit was that he was a from the Penobscot Nation, offering the potential for this line of script: "The first Indian I talked in South Dakota spoke with a thick Maine accent."

Horse nibbles on our tent Sweetgrass River MT

so how do you find that face in crowd? you stumble upon a promising situation, a guy alone on a bench thumbing thru small maps. i remember another bike trip, with LarryM. we'd just done our nightly illegal camping, in an Idaho rest stop, and were on our morning quest for coffee. Larry had left earlier. I was just pulling onto the road when I saw Larry sitting on the grass talking to a grizzled, drifter-lookin guy. Larry makes some motions indicating I should get the recorder out. turned out to be this wonderful intervu: this guy had broke down there in his van a few days ago. he had no money, but a job starting a few hundred miles away in a week. he wasn't worried, tho, or in any hurry. he was happy hangin at this very nice rest stop on a secluded highway. Larry gave him a few bucks and we continued on to caffiene.

 previous | next