Wheels on the Bus

by Ken Bilderback

In the spring of 1974 ... Richard Nixon was desperately clinging to the presidency. Hank Aaron was about to break Babe Ruth’s home run record, the very first issue of People magazine was about to hit the newsstands, and “ooh-ga-chukka, ooh-ga-chukka, I’m hooked on a feeling” was playing on the AM radio.Somewhere in America, a shy, skinny kid from Detroit was riding a Greyhound bus across the country, enjoying naked women, exuberant cowboys and exotic Mexican food.That same kid was fleeing bullies and a paranoid-schizophrenic father and running head-on into sex predators, armed robbers and murder victims with steam still rising from gunshot wounds.Always, however, the skinny kid had the comfort of the Greyhound bus and the colorful and sometimes lost souls he met along the long, empty stretches of the American heartland.For at least one lonely rider, innocence was lost in 1974 …

174 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2010

About the author

Whether it's getting flashed by a geriatric hooker in Miami or baking in the heat of a forest fire in Oregon, there's little that journalist Ken Bilderback won't do to get a story worth telling.

Bilderback is a retired newspaper reporter and editor and former NFPA-certified volunteer Public Information Officer for the Gaston Rural Fire District in Oregon. His hobbies include listening to nonagenarians talk about Prohibition, creating videos of cats interacting with gophers, and saying "Aw, shucks!" while winning literary awards.

Honors for "Creek With No Name":

First Runner Up, History Prize, 2012 New York Book Festival
Winner, Regional Literature, 2012 New England Book Festival
Winner, Regional Literature, 2012 Southern California Book Festival
First Runner Up, Regional Literature, 2012-2013 Los Angeles Book Festival
Honorable Mention, Non-fiction, 2013 Great Northwest Book Festival
Honorable Mention, History, 2012 San Francisco Book Festival
Honorable Mention, General Non-fiction, 2012 Hollywood Book Festival
Honorable Mention, General Non-fiction, 2012 London Book Festival

Honors for "Wheels on the Bus":

Honorable Mention, Autobiography, 2011 New York Book Festival
Honorable Mention, Autobiography, 2012 Southern California Book Festival

Reviews

[Jeremy Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wheels on the bus is a "trip" you have to take. First off it's very easy to read. The writing is clear, interesting and flows very well. A good writer makes you forget you're reading, and Ken accomplishes that with ease. The continuity and flow is very smooth and you'll finish this book pretty fast. That's not because it's too simple, it's really a compliment to the writing itself, it's clear Ken is a polished author. But enough about the writing.

The story is about a young man taking a trip across the country on a bus, with no destination in mind, and obviously searching for something that's not geographic. It's unpretentious and honest, Ken reveals his fears and weaknesses that gives the story an overall realism you don't get from a biography. For a while you are that scared awkward 18 year old fearing bullies in Miami. You are the curious man staring out the bus window wondering what your life is going to be like and wondering where you're going. Most anyone who remembers their youth in an honest way will relate in some way to what he was feeling, though few would admit it.

There are plenty of ups and downs, a roller coaster guided in such a way that you don't spend too much time in one place. It's not sunshine and rainbows the whole way, but it's not a depressing book either. It's extremely observational in nature, even if you didn't know beforehand you would likely guess this person was bound for journalism. The book is exactly what it promises, and I look forward to reading it again.

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to relive their memories of the 70s, or even their own childhood whatever decade it was in. Anyone wanting to take a scary trip across the country without the fear of being mugged or worse should pick it up. You won't regret it.