The Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News has a story about Mark Potter of Vernon, Texas, who’s been a longtime aficionado of Route 66.
His credits include stories written for the Route 66 Pulse and the Route 66 Federation News and an appearance in the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels.”
But what I’ve found most interesting about Potter is his collection of guidebooks, maps, phone and business directories, and other historical artifacts from U.S. 66. If you ask Potter about a long-gone business in a town on the Mother Road, he’ll have the archives to look it up if he doesn’t already know off the top of his head. If you wanted the phone number of a certain motel in Gallup, N.M., in 1963, chances are good he’ll have that information.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Potter’s collection eventually ends up in the research center of a museum or university library.