Photographer Edward Keating, who won the Pulitzer Prize for documenting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks in New York City, announced he soon will publish a book of his Route 66 photography he’s compiled over the last 17 years.
Keating wrote in a Facebook post last week the book, titled “MAIN STRƎƎT,” will be published by Damiani, an art-book publisher in Italy, in September.
Keating added:
My Grandpa Haupt sold Ford Model A’s and T’s on 66 in St. Louis in the teens and 20’s. My mom drove it to California with my Uncle Ollie in the late 40’s. And I bottomed out drinking on it in Flagstaff in the late 70’s. I didn’t get back to 66 until 2000 when I was assigned by The New York Times Magazine, which published the photo-essay “Asphalt Blues” that July. After eleven more years of shooting, six years to edit, an essay by Charlie LeDuff, plus the infinite patience and support of my family and my agency, Contact Press Images, I am now done.
The photo attached to the Facebook post, shown also above, is identified only as “Night manager, Missouri, 2003,” but the subject and the room’s decor seem to be Ed Goodridge of Vernelle’s Motel along Route 66 near Newburg, Missouri.
The Facebook page for Vernelle’s announced last year the motel had stopped accepting overnight stays, citing health reasons.
Keating told me some time ago he was working on a book of his Route 66 photography; I’m pleased to see it is coming to fruition.
During his long career, Keating’s photos also have appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Time, W, New York and Bon Appetit magazines.
David Geffin interviewed Keating in this video in 2014 about his Route 66 photos and other projects.
Keating wrote an essay about Route 66 in New York Times Magazine in 2000 and how a road trip on it eventually led to his kicking a bad drinking problem.
Some of Keating’s Route 66 photography may be viewed here.
(Image by Edward Keating of “night manager, Missouri, 2003” from screen-capture of David Geffin video)