“A Centennial Celebration”: A Review of Jim Ross and Shellee Graham’s Route 66: The First 100 Years

 (St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press, 2025), ISBN-13: 978-1-681065823

When considering the most well-known and impactful writers and photographers who chronicle Route 66—Jim Hinckley, Michael Wallis, Joe Sonderman, and Chery Eichar Jett, all of whom I have met and/or presented with—one must include Jim Ross and Shellee Graham.

My introduction to the work of this husband–wife super-duo, about 18 months ago, happened as I was preparing a series of presentations on what I call “Supernatural 66.” As part of my research, I read their 2017 Secret Route 66: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.

Two months ago, I was privileged to do a presentation about/as Cyrus Avery, “Father of the Mother Road,” at AAA RoadFest in Tulsa, where Jim and Shellee were also presenting and debuting Route 66: The First 100 Years. I was lucky enough to have a close friend gift me the book just before their presentation, which I very much enjoyed. Afterward, they were nice enough to personalize and autograph my copy—as they did for MANY others that day, which they have continued to do on their popular book tour.

Like the other Route 66 luminaries, as I term them, mentioned above, Jim and Shellee do not have just a passing or professional interest in the Mother Road. Nor have they come to write about, travel on, and photograph it only in anticipation of the very big deal that is the route’s 100th birthday. They have been passionate about the route, living and breathing it (they live on the route in a house inspired by the service stations of a bygone, and much missed, age) for decades and are an essential reason why it has survived (and thrived).

What is essentially a love story—love of Route 66 and one another—is threaded through both of their books that I have (so far) read, enlivening the prose, adding extra color to the abundant photographs—many taken by the authors—and proving page after page why they hold an honored position among Mother Road enthusiasts.

This review is shaped in part by my having the benefit of attending their presentation at RoadFest, which was moderated by Ken Busby, executive director and CEO of the Route 66 Alliance. Ken, a longtime colleague, collaborator, and friend, is the one who so generously bought me this book.

I know, for instance, that the authors chose to de-emphasize the most-often celebrated destinations, personalities, and other aspects of Route 66 (leaving them for other books and writers) so they could focus on lesser-known people, places, and facts. This decision makes this book an essential addition to even an extensive collection of books on the Mother Road like mine. I also learned that one of the highlights of the book from a preservation and restoration standpoint enjoyed their intimate involvement.

By way of overview, the combination of the book’s gorgeous layout and typesetting, the power of its pictures, and the strength of its prose (rendered in the dulcet tones and authoritative syntax and style akin to award-winning documentary narration) guarantee that Route 66: The First 100 Years will not be placed on my bookshelf. I have prominently placed it in the Creative Cottage where everyone who visits can enjoy it.

As though we were starting in Chicago, Illinois, and making our way along the full 2,400 or so miles of Route 66 to the Santa Monica Pier, I intend to take you through the chapters. We won’t stop at every one along the way. Instead, I’ll cover what I consider to be the highlights from my perspective as a researcher, presenter, and as someone whose time on Route 66 prompted my own love story and some of the most memorable events of my life.

Before the engine was even warm, I was delighted to see the Dedication to Cyrus. The accompanying photo is of the Father of the Mother Road with his family, a credit to the authors’ understanding of whom he truly was. With the engine warm but the tranny still in Park, I read the Foreword by celebrated author Michael Wallis. The authors keep some wonderful company.

As we merge onto the route as the chapters unfold, Ross and Graham paint in words (supported by and further colorizing the stunning pictures) an America before Route 66, how it came into being and why, and what it meant for the growth of the country. We get an education (never dry, always erudite) on the coopting of national trails in forming the route and the battle, featuring our man Cyrus, for a number (which wasn’t always 66). As we motor through the cities of Illinois and Missouri and into Kansas’s 13 memorable miles on this metaphorical journey, we learn about the early days of dangerous travel, unpaved expanses, and early promotion. Fittingly, as we cross into Oklahoma, we move into the Dust Bowl and Depression and the hardships faced by those motoring the Mother Road (thank you, John Steinbeck) toward the Promised Land of California only to find that the promises were lies. As we move on into Texas, we’re into World War II and the importance of the road for military bases, POW camps, and the winning of the war.

Out of Texas and into the American Southwest, there are important chapters on experiences of African Americans and Native Americans all along the route. I say important because, if you want to understand the full scope of Route 66, and not just the neon and ice cream, these chapters are ones with which you’ll want to spend some extra time.

Pulling off to a scenic overlook, I want to mention that I’ve been voraciously reading about and intensely studying the history of Route 66 for three-plus years and there were many (many) things I learned. If you think you’ve seen and learned it all, this book will prove you wrong.

As we motor through New Mexico and into Arizona, it’s time for some refreshments. The authors offer us the visual and aural delights that contributed to making the Main Street of America the icon it continues to be. There’s a movingly nostalgic section with filled out postcards, followed by chapters on the story of the Troups’ famous song, car culture, and neon. 

Continuing their focus on underrepresented populations, there’s a wonderful chapter on the “Ladies of Legend” and, my fellow travelers, there sure were a lot of them!

Interspersed through the vast expanses of the route’s western states are the subject of Chapter 8, “Trading Posts and Tourist Traps.” These iconic emporiums are the raw material of some of the route’s most enduring legends and darkest moments. From gun battles, to snake pits, from artists and artisans to alter-ego sales gimmicks and shady dealings, it’s easy to understand why there has never been another road like the Mother Road.

Picking up a switchback (keep your eyes on the road!) we move into “Bloody 66” and a few chapters later, “Villains and Victims.” If you’re a fan of Jim Hinckley’s Murder and Mayhem on the Main Street of America, these are the chapters for you.

As darkness gathers as we move into our metaphorical California, we enter the years of the bypass and the mini-death of the Main Street of America. We meet heroes, villains (aka The Slab and Homogenization), and those, like Ike, caught between Tradition and Progress. As visually stunning as the chapter on postcards is the one on bridges, “Spans of Time.”

As the shimmering Pacific enters our bittersweet vision, we reach the “Renaissance,” “Preservation,” and “Epilogue: The Next 100 Years.” Within these pages are myriad reasons to rejoice. The future of the Mother Road, our beloved Route 66, is in excellent entrepreneurial, authorial, and enthusiast hands—and Jim Ross and Shellee Graham are truly the Trifecta.

As we turn our autos around and head on back to re-experience the route from West to East and go our separate ways (for now), Shellee and Jim provide us with “Road Facts” and the “Route 66: The First 100 Years Timeline.”

Safe travels and see you on the route, my friends! Rest assured my purchased-for-me-by-a-treasured-friend, autographed copy of Route 66: The First 100 Years will be on the seat beside me.

Will you have yours as well?