About the Book:

A generation ago, two buddies tooled across America in a 1960 Corvette, encountering adventures that kept viewers watching Route 66 on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and Nelson Riddle's jazzy theme music was so good that it became a Top 40 hit in 1961.

"Route 66": The Television Series 1960 – 1964 by James Rosin is a look back at the unique CBS television series Route 66, an earnest, ambitious serial, which found two restless young men roaming the highway that the author John Steinbeck had dubbed "the Mother Road" in a Corvette sports car. Actor Martin Milner was Tod Stiles, a young man born to wealth and educated at Yale but who had suddenly become broke when his father died and left him nothing but a new Corvette. Actor George Maharis was Buz Murdock, a hardened survivor of New York City's inhospitable Hell's Kitchen who had worked for Tod's dad.

Wandering from place to place across the North American landscape in Tod's Corvette, taking odd jobs to stay afloat, the two men encountered a variety of fascinating characters and became involved in their lives – a sometimes dark but always involving journey. The series was said to have been inspired by Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road and featured weekly guest stars including a veritable who's who in Hollywood during the 1970s and 1980s: Alan Alda, James Caan, Robert Duvall, George Kennedy, Ben Johnson, E.G. Marshall, Cloris Leachman, Walter Matthau, Ed Asner, Lee Marvin, Tina Louise, Darren McGavin, Jack Lord, Kent McCord, Suzanne Pleshette, Anne Francis, Tuesday Weld, Susan Oliver, Robert Redford, Leslie Nielsen, Martin Sheen, Rod Steiger, Barbara Eden, Julie Newmar, James Coburn, William Shatner, Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds, and other now familiar names in some of their earliest roles. Most were young up-and-comers who had yet to achieve fame, but as its reputation grew the series was able to attract a different order of star, including horror greats Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff as themselves.

Developed by Herbert B. Leonard and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, this groundbreaking television series was the only show filmed entirely on location in the early 1960s. It was shot in 24 US states and Canada, moving to new towns and cities for each episode, something hard to imagine given the bulkiness of equipment at the time. The book features commentary from the series stars, producers and directors, detailed episode summaries, photographs, and biographies.

What people say:

"Like a fine watchmaker, Jim Rosin takes us behind the face to show the workings that made Route 66 a unique TV experience." — George Maharis, Series co-star

"Rosin's book is well-researched and very informative." — Elliot Silverstein, Director: Multiple Episodes

"The consummate book on the trend setting TV series." — David Knudsen, Executive Director, National Route 66 Federation

"Route 66 series fans will love the history, photos and storytelling." — Jim Vanore, for Herald Newspapers (New Jersey)

"A very enjoyable look back at a memorable TV series." — Randy Renner, for KOKC Talk Radio (Oklahoma)

"Filled with fascinating details that will please any enthusiast of the series." — Bill Gates, for Route 66 Pulse Newspaper

About the Author:

James Rosin is an American actor and author. He graduated from Temple University's School of Communications with a degree in broadcasting. In New York, he studied with Bobby Lewis (co-founder of the Actor's Studio) and appeared in plays off-off Broadway and in New England summer stock. In Los Angeles, he appeared on numerous episodic TV series, including Love American Style, Banacek, Cannon, Adam-12, Mannix, T.J. Hooker, Quincy M.E. and many others. He has also written a number of books about classic television programs, including Route 66.