Lonesome Traveler

by Weldon Hill

Tells the story of Clem Marlow, fourteen years old, just about penniless, without family except for his mother, who lies ill in a hospital seven hundred miles away and for whom he is agonizingly lonely. So lonely that Clem sets out in a small cart drawn by his pet burro, Pedro and his dog, Duke, to be reunited with his mother. This is the tale of his incredible journey from Oklahoma to New Mexico, the events that occur as he presses on, and the extraordinary assortment of people he meets en route.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1970

About the author

Pseudonym of William R. Scott (died in Norman, Oklahoma, at the age of 73).

Scott hit the best-seller lists in the early 1950s with Onionhead, his first book published under the pen name of Weldon Hill. He had already had a successful career as an author of short stories and serials under his own name.

Onionhead, about a University of Oklahoma student who became a reluctant hero, drew on Scott's background in the Coast Guard in World War II. It was later made into a movie starring Andy Griffith.

Other novels he wrote include The Iceman, Rafe and The Long Summer of George Adams.

Reviews

[Christine Jeffords · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a favorite of mine--I've forgotten how many times I've read it, and I wish copies of it weren't so thin on the ground, since I'd dearly love to replace my aging paperback. It's the story of 13-year-old Clement Marlow, known to one and all as Clem, the son of a sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty and a mother who was sent to a sanitarium in Carrizozo, NM, a couple of years ago with "spots on her lungs." Since then he's been bounced from one relative to another before settling near Conifer, OK, with a cousin of his mother's and her hard-drinking husband. Disturbed by the lack of letters from his only remaining parent, he makes up his mind to go and visit her. He doesn't have money for a bus, so after school closes for the summer he piles his gear in a homemade cart, harnesses his donkey Pedro to it, whistles up his mixbreed dog Duke, and sets off to walk to Carrizozo along the bar-ditches that flank the U.S. highways.

Filled with unforgettable characters and heartwarming incidents, the book follows Clem on his journey, meeting people nice and not so nice, from the long-haul truckers who adopt him as a mascot to the black motorcyclist from Detroit with whom he works a wreck and hauls several teenagers from a smashed car, the precocious pre-teen girl who gives him his first look at the nude female body, the "exotic dancer" he "falls in love" with, the country bullies who torment him at a rest stop (and the small-town teenagers who make life difficult for him at one of his camps), the elderly couple that welcomes him to their dinner table, the migrant family he helps with a contribution of milk, the State Trooper who watches over him, the jittery trucker who gives him a mysterious package to carry, the veterinarian who comes to his aid when Duke is hit by a car, the girl who gives him his first kiss, the escaped convict who hitches a ride in his cart, and the elderly neighbor (a retired schoolteacher and splendid cook) and her trucker son who help him get started. There's nothing in it that would be too mature for any youngster over the age of 10; it would make an excellent family read-aloud--and a wonderful TV-movie. If you can't buy it, at least ask your library to get it on interloan; you'll never regret it.

[Sonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife recommended this book to me. She said it was a real good story and so it was! 5 stars all the way!

[mary west · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a teenager. I read it repeatedly. I still remember this story. I think this may have been one of the forces that guided me to have a career working with teenagers.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will tear at your heartstrings. Lonesome Traveler is about a young boy who tries to go cross country to visit his sick mother by himself, his only company is his pet donkey. I loved this book.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reread of a book I first read in my teens. I still love it.