Michael Wallis, writer of the best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road” and more than a dozen other books, will give a “State of the Mother Road” speech June 18 during the Vinita Route 66 Festival in Vinita, Oklahoma.
Wallis long was known for his fiery “state of the road” speeches with his big, baritone voice during annual International Route 66 Festivals since about 2001. He’d taken a hiatus, however, from such a speech last year during the festival in Kingman, Arizona.
The speech in Vinita will be from noon to 12:30 p.m. June 18 at the center stage of downtown Vinita.
In an email this week, Wallis said he “will be focusing on local-regional road matters” during the Vinita speech. He also said he will attend the International Route 66 Festival in downtown Los Angeles in November.
Wallis and his wife, Suzanne, will be at a meet-and-greet and book-signing sessions at the festival’s Route 66 Marketplace from 10 a.m. to noon that day. They also will be at Clanton’s Cafe in Vinita from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and the Eastern Trails Museum in Vinita at 3 p.m.
Wallis also will give a talk at the “Route 66: Radiance, Rust and Revival on the Mother Road” show at the Albuquerque Museum at 2 p.m. July 17. He will sign copies of “Route 66: The Mother Road” at 1 p.m. that day in the museum.
Wallis also served as a consultant to Pixar Studios during development of the animated film “Cars” and was the voice of the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the movie.
UPDATE: Wallis also will give a talk titled “Route 66: A Lifetime on the Mother Road” at 11:30 a.m. June 25 and 1 p.m. June 26 at Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.
(Image of Michael Wallis in Tulsa by Emily Priddy)
Hopefully someone will take video of his speeches and make them available here, on Youtube, or some other convenient web site. I’m very interested to hear Mr. Wallis’s take on Route 66 preservation and developments.