Gentleman of the Road: A Hitchhiking Memoir of the 1970s by Rollie Erickson

Willow River Press is excited to announce the Fall 2022 release of Gentleman of the Road: A Hitchhiking Memoir of the 1970s by Rollie Erickson.

Gentleman of the Road: a Hitchhiking Memoir of the 1970s is a coming of age story about a young couple who go on a hitchhiking odyssey across the country, hoping to find a new life for themselves. The protagonist, an artist and a self-styled “searcher”, uses the I Ching for deciphering the random situations that arise while on the road. He also uses it to find a place to stop traveling and start a home. The culmination of events leads to the discovery of, and reuniting with, his real father. It also leads to a marriage, and the subsequent divorce, from his partner and traveling companion. This liminal passage concludes with the protagonist beginning life as a New York City artist.

Author Bio:

Rollie Erickson is primarily a visual artist who has exhibited both nationally and abroad in such diverse venues as The Alternative Museum in New York City, SPACES in Cleveland, Ohio, and C.R.I.M.E. Gallery, Paris, France. Rollie’s work has been reproduced in various catalogs and in Art in America, 1984-85 Guide to Galleries, Museums, Artists. He has received grants and honorariums from Artists Space (NYC), SPACES, and Dance Theater Workshop (NYC). Rollie and his wife Cass created Wordimage, a one-time literary magazine that explored the relationship between text and imagery as well as contemporary surrealist poetry; copies reside in the Museum of Modern Art’s library and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Library. Publication of his poetry has appeared in: Asheville Poetry Review, Art/Life, and O!! Zone. Night Palaces is Rollie’s first book of poetry.