BOOKS
Conversations Across America is about a father-son journey of a lifetime: a 73-day, 4,600-mile cross-country bike trip Kari took in 2015 with his 75-year-old dad, Merv, who had early-stage Alzheimer’s. Their adventure reminds us of the power of perseverance and adaptability in the face of uncertainty. It’s also a heartwarming example of listening and discovery, including 300 short conversations with people who approached them along the way, providing a rich snapshot of America, especially rural America.
Conversations is a mix of Blue Highways, Tuesdays with Morrie, and Humans of New York… on a bike. As you read, you can’t help but reflect on your relationship with your own father and children, while gaining perspective on Alzheimer’s—which now afflicts more than six million Americans—and getting a sense of the TransAmerica Bike Trail and America itself. Above all, you will be inspired to seize-the-day with someone you love—whatever that means to you.
‘Story by story by story, Kari Loya's My Top 40 at 40 becomes a primer on the alchemy of adventure. After he's carried you up mountains crawling with tarantulas, plunged you in mud volcanoes and man-eating Cuban potholes, taken you on a sleep-over atop a Guatemalan pyramid, introduced you to frightening Serbian giants and Japanese sumo wrestlers and taught you how to transform an Argentinean beauty into a wife, it dawns on you: the tarantulas and mud volcanoes and pyramids and giants are all just wonderful props. The magic all occurs in the spirit and imagination of one human being...who could be you.’ - Gary Smith, Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated and Four-Time National Magazine Award Winner