We at Route 66 News concentrate on news concerning the Mother Road, but occasionally pay attention to developments about other historic two-lane highways.
So it is with interest that we take note of a new photo-and-essay book by Ann Torrence titled “U.S. Highway 89: The Scenic Route to Seven Western National Parks” (Sagebrush Press, 160 pages, $29.95). Historic U.S. 89 runs 1,600 miles from the Mexico border in Arizona to the Canadian border in Montana.
New West has a review of the book:
U.S. Highway 89 makes for an enchanting journey, celebrating natural beauty alongside neon roadside kitsch. In the epilogue, Torrence writes, “When I began photographing the Highway 89 project, I thought my subject would be the exquisite beauty of its seven national parks. Gradually…I fell in love with the small towns in between my supposed destinations. I wasn’t interested in photographing a nostalgic West that no longer existed; I wanted to show how the people I met were reinventing their Western lifestyles to retain their heritage as change encroached on their communities.”
It sounds like something I need to put on my reading list.
Torrence keeps a blog here, including a section about U.S. 89 here.
That does sound interesting. I’ll need to look for that one.