2026 Spring Read: ROUTE 66 -100 YEARS ON THE MOTHER ROAD
by Kathleen Holt
In 1926, U.S. Route 66 stitched together small towns, big cities, farms, deserts, dreams, and desperation. Over the next century, the Mother Road became more than pavement—it became a symbol of movement and reinvention, of loss and possibility, of who gets to travel freely and who is pushed to the margins.
This season of the Radio Readers Book Club marks the centennial of Route 66 with four books that explore the road from different angles: as a path of migration, a site of personal reckoning, a cultural myth, and a living, changing place. Together, these works invite readers to consider how Route 66 reflects the American story—then and now.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, (https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/general-highway-history/back-time/route-66-mother-road )
“In the early 1900s, Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a realtor and owner of a coal company, began acquiring oil leases. With the need to reach the barren lands around him and the need for a roadway from the Midwest to the western lands connecting cities along the way, the road became a reality. With John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri, Avery promoted the idea of bringing prosperity to Tulsa and other points west. Unlike the straight Lincoln Highway, Route 66 did not follow a linear course. Its diagonal course linked hundreds of rural communities from Chicago to Kansas and on to Los Angeles, enabling farmers to transport grain and produce. By the 1930s the trucking industry was using Route 66. The truckers enjoyed the easier drive across the prairie lands and milder climates than the northern routes offered. Avery is remembered as "The Father of Route 66."
It seems fitting to kick off the season listening to the lyrics of the iconic song “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” and whether you knew Bobby Troup’s 1946 song as it was recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio (1946), Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (1947), Chuck Berry (1961), the Rolling Stones (1964) or Depeche Mode (1987), you know a song created and inspired by mid-20th century vehicle travel.
So, please crank up the music and listen as we take off with the 2026 Spring Read: Route 66 – 100 Years on the Mother Road. Through it, we’ll remember, we’ll share memories and hopefully, we’ll inspire modern day adventures down one of the most important journeys in American history.
"If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way take the highway that is best.”
Radio Reader BookBytes will air each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during All Things Considered and Morning Edition. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for the season’s finale scheduled for Amarillo – at Chapterhouse Books on Saturday, May 2, 2026! Details to follow. But mark your calendars and plan to spend the day!
2026 Spring Read: Route 66 – 100 Years on the Mother Road
Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, 1939
Book Leaders: Miriam Scott (Amarillo) & Glenda Shepard (Yucca Corners Farm, Stanton Co, KS)
The American Dream: A Journey on Route 66 Discovering Dinosaur Statues, Muffler Men, and the Perfect Breakfast Burrito by Shing Yin Khor, 2019 Book Leader: Lauren Pronger, Amarillo – on Route 66!)
Never Met a Man I Didn't Like: The Life and Writings of Will Rogers, by Will Rogers, Joseph H. Carter, with intro by Jim Rogers, 1991
Book Leader: Sally Shattuck (Ashland, KS)
Route 66 Then and Now by Joe Sonderman, 2018 (Travel Guide) Inspiration for individual Route 66 Radio Readers BookBytes
