In July 1965, an Artesian Turquoise Chevrolet Biscayne rolled off a General Motors assembly line. Little did James Ward know that this car would become a cherished member of his family, playing a role in his wedding, honeymoon, years of graduate school, birth of his daughter, and her wedding, among countless other memories. Four decades—and a lot of history—later, the author still drives this rolling historical artifact dubbed Phoebe.
Using the Biscayne as a narrative thread, this first-person account explores facets of American history the author and Phoebe experienced since the mid–1960s, such as a KKK cross-burning, a civil rights march, Hurricane Betsy, numerous local diners, motels, and parks, and interesting people and out-of-the-way places. Looking for remnants of their youth, they drove across back roads in twenty-first century America. Photographs accompany this unique memoir.

James A. Ward is Guerry Professor of History at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He, his wife, and Phoebe live in Chattanooga.

James A. Ward
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 220
Bibliographic Info: 36 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2006
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2588-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8454-6
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      5

PART I: PHOEBE’S YOUTH
1. Phoebe’s Ancestry      25
2. Storm of the Decade      45

PART II: THE SEETHING SIXTIES
3. Steamy Red Stick      65
4. The Dairy Queen Klan      74
5. Long Hot March      89

PART III: LITERARY CONNECTIONS
6. Sugar-Boy      111
7. Road Writings      123

PART IV: BACK ROADS
8. Out on the Blue Roads Again      147
9. Home Again, Lickety-Split      166
10. Decision Time      187

Chapter Notes      201
Bibliography      207
Index      211

“highly literate, absorbing narrative”—Hemmings Classic Car.