Q & A with Author James Hesketh
Why did you write Riding a Straight and Twisty Road?
It seems I’ve always been in motion–riding my bicycle as a young kid, hiking in the mountains around the Pacific Northwest as a teenager, or spending a year hitchhiking around the US before discovering sailing while traveling through the Florida Keys, and then living the “Jimmy Buffett” lifestyle throughout the eighties. I’ve ridden through all of the lower forty-eight states, eastern Canada and northern Mexico, as well as a motorcycle trip to Europe in 2005. I wanted to write a book by and about motorcyclists in recovery, a book that celebrates lives recovered from active addiction.
What makes this book unique?
Starting with the birth of the “biker image” that grew out of sensationalized newspaper reports of a motorcycle rally in Hollister, CA in 1947, I use archival information, cultural references, photographs, and first-person accounts to chronicle the melding of the party lifestyle with motorcycling, and then progress to the recovery lifestyle and motorcycling.
I’ve talked with bikers and motorcyclists (they are not the same thing). I’ve found riders who join clean and sober clubs after finding recovery, and others who found recovery after joining a C&S club. I’ve found professional motorcycle racers, custom bike builders, people who ride in clubs and people who ride alone–a wide variety of motorcyclists whose lives wouldn’t be complete without an outlet for their passion for life that can only be found on two wheels.
How does Riding a Straight and Twisty Road address recovery?
For riders who have lived through the pain of addiction, the music of the road is amplified by an awareness of life that can only be appreciated by someone who came close to losing all that is important and beautiful.This book attempts to share that awareness with the reader.
Who is your target audience for this book?
Almost anyone interested in motorcycling and/or recovery will find interest in this book.
