On the Road with Charles Kuralt
Salinas, Calif. – When we first began brainstorming a trip across the country, we thought a lot about John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and Charles Kuralt’s On the Road, two works that inspired and are shaping our trip.
Little did we know the men were friends and the projects were linked.
The moment I asked Thom Steinbeck if he had ever watched On the Road he quickly cut in – “I loved Charles Kuralt. I would have given up everything if someone had invited me on that bus. That’s what I wanted to do. And Charles Kuralt started it because of Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley.”
Thom refers affectionately to Kuralt as “Charlie,” not to be confused with his father’s now famous French poodle and travel companion, “Charley.” According to Thom, his father and Kuralt were good friends, and shared similar views on a range of topics. One quote, that it is possible to travel the country by freeway and not see the country at all, can be directly attributed to Kuralt but perhaps had its genesis in a passage in Travels with Charley.
Kuralt served many roles at CBS but remains best known for his On the Road series, where he focused on the ordinary and undiscovered. If you’ve never seen it, you should. While most publications were concerned with the times the river flooded, Kuralt was concerned with the times when it did not. He once said: “The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”
We’ll likely encounter a range of human behavior – people at their best and people at their worst – as we travel the back roads. Still, we have a hunch Kuralt was right; there is much more to this country than that which can be found in the headlines.
Incidentally, sitting in on this interview were Sara Lee Guthrie, granddaughter of Woodie Guthrie and daughter of Arlo Guthrie, and her husband Johnny Irion, who is playing guitar in the background.
Posted by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 | Email This PostThis entry was posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 at 1:00 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”
Leave a Reply
NOTE: Please submit your comment only once. It will have to be approved by the administrator before it is posted.
September 21st, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Did you not know that Johnny Irion is Thom Steinbeck’s nephew?
September 28th, 2006 at 10:17 am
The guy chain smoked as I recall, slept with a source and looked like your washing machine repair man. But Kuralt had a super personality. Even without “CBS on the side of the bus”.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I honestly don’t know what it is about some people that drives them in the directions they go,as in the case of Charles Kuralt. Maybe its just plain,old-fashioned curiosity,or a sense of adventure,or perhaps its because they miss something,specifically,times gone by. You know,you don’t realize that the ‘Good Old Days’ even were the ‘Good Old Days’ till they were gone. So,maybe its a search for a simpler time. And I am sure that every country has at least one,but we have been very fortunate to have some of the people who have taken the time to not necessarily take us back,but to show us that some of what we had ‘back then’,is still here now.While everything you see and hear tells you to go here and buy this and get that,they remind us that there are still people in places that just ‘live life’,usually without all of the pressure of having to have or be it all. How many times have you driven down the same road and never really noticed everything,until one day you get a flat tire and have to walk it? Then,it seems you truely see all of the things you been missing. “Stop And Small The Roses”,I believe is the phrase,which applies to all of us who never take the time to enjoy the simpler things,like old cars,old people, sunsets and rainbows and children playing,a good laugh,making someone smile. “Look at all we’re missing…” is maybe what Mr. Kuralt was trying to say.
As to his ‘personal life’.it should be just that,’PERSONAL’! We’re all human and subject to making mistakes. Charles Kuralt was just a man,and from what I know of him not a perfect man,as I am sure he would never have claimed to be. Should we care of the man or woman who finds a cure for cancer or a.i.d.’s has been married ten times,or had a fling one night in Toledo? I think not. I HOPE NOT! From what I have seen and read,to me,Charles Kuralt was a ‘Good Man’,and that’s about all we,the public,should ask.
November 5th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Charles Kurault did an episode with my grandpapy in Tallahassee FL. about his upsy daisy uplift society how could I get a look at that video