In 2004 at the Route 66 festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Russell Olsen. He was at the festival selling his first book, Route 66 Lost & Found. The book did two things better than just about any other work on Route 66 that I have seen: first, Russell used vintage postcards and photos of Route 66 sites, then he paired those images with modern photos of the current look of the same site taken from the same vantage point. Second, and almost as important, he accompanied those paired images with knowledgeable text that told little-known details of the background of the sites. The results are intimate, knowing, and exhilarating.
I met up with Russell again in San Bernadino in 2005, and in Albuquerque in 2006. He came out with a second volume of Lost & Found in 2006, and the results were just as satisfying. Again, the relavatory pairing of vintage and contemporary photos of such Route 66 icons as Dell Rhea Chicken Basket in Willowbrook, Illinois, the Coleman Theater in Miami, Oklahoma showed the changes wrought by time. Most interesting to the obsessive historian in me were the lesser-known sites where Russell took the time to seek out and find vintage images and then visit the site to take the matching modern shot: The Strufe Motel in Dwight, Illinois, the Indian Trails Trading Post in Lupton, Arizona, and Carty’s Camp in Needles, California. Throughout, the keen eye of the photographer and the caring words of the author shine through.
Voyageur Press has recently released a single-volume combining Route 66 Lost & Found volumes 1 and 2 into a single hardcover in a smaller format than the originals. While the smaller format reduces the majesty of some of the images, this combined volume would be a must for dedicated roadies that have not had the opportunity to purchase the original separate books. Russell Olsen is one of the Mother Road’s most knowing and artistic documentarians. If you have not yet seen his work, I urge you to seek out Route 66 Lost & Found.
Voyageur Press, 2008. $25.00US. ISBN 978-0-7603-3492-8
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