Summer Skies, the Road Ahead
One night just before summer break, Tor Bergman, a bewildered college sophomore, receives an unexpected invitation from striking coed Connie St. Louis. She wants to hitchhike across the country from Ohio to Washington, through Canada to Alaska, and back in just seventy-eight days. Tor hardly knows Connie. Why agree to such a crazy undertaking? Call it infatuation, a call from the collective unconscious, or perhaps an innate desire to complete the hero’s journey, but Tor agrees and sets out with Connie on their epic adventure.
Backpacking across America, the duo meets all kinds of fascinating new people each day and witness a beauty and splendor of the countryside that’s as varied as the weather. Along with his opinionated traveling partner, Tor soaks in the zen events of everyday life, learns about accepting oneself and others despite personal complications, and discovers a spiritual side to life. The summer of 1970 will be one Tor never forgets—and not just because of the skinny-dipping.
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Rolf Edwin Wicks has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Oberlin College and a master's in social administration from Case Western Reserve University. He worked for twenty years as a social worker and program administrator. He taught psychology at Cuyahoga Community College for six years, and for the last four years has participated in a creative writing group that meets monthly at the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. In college, he was a group leader for summer and fall camping trips. Currently his outdoor activities include gardening and composting. He lives in Akron, Ohio, with his wife, Heather, his semiferal cat, Cleo, and the neighborhood groundhogs.