Michael Burns

Into the Blue Far Distance: Memories and Musing from America's Roads Michael Burns

On April 26,2001, Michael Burns left his home in California. In July, after a journey that took him across the United States, he returned home. Michael is a paraplegic. He cannot walk or stand. He has used a wheelchair since 1967. His van was his only constant companion. His writings speak of landscapes and towns, and the people he met, the ordinary yet fascinating people of wisdom, courage, humor and practical nature. He found the places where many live and dream; where the history is rich; the resources many; the traditions unyielding; and the beauty magnificent. It is about small towns where he tried to understand the context in which people live in very small places. It is about campgrounds and the day's journey, and observations at stops along the way. It is about the perils of the solo journey of a middle-aged paraplegic as he makes his way across the country and back. At times it is a very personal trip, but it is always the observations of a man, traveling alone in extraordinary circumstances trying to be quite ordinary.