Joy Ride

Two years after Bill Heller left the Army, he graduated from Northwestern University. It was 1949 and he was 21 years old. Soon he would join his family business, but for now, he was free. On the first day of summer, Bill and his friend Sid Wasserman headed north and west, driving Bill's brand-new robin's-egg blue Oldsmobile convertible. Ten weeks and 14,000 miles later, they were back home. This book is the journal Bill kept during that trip, an "attempt to record the travels and experiences of two particular friends during the summer of 1949." It was with Sid that Bill found his approach to life —traveling for business and pleasure, by highway and byway, cruise ship and freighter, prop plane and jet—life as a joy ride.

Two years after Bill Heller left the Army, he graduated from Northwestern University. It was 1949 and he was 21 years old. Soon he would join his family business, but for now, he was free. On the first day of summer, Bill and his friend Sid Wasserman headed north and west, driving Bill's brand-new robin's-egg blue Oldsmobile convertible. Ten weeks and 14,000 miles later, they were back home. This book is the journal Bill kept during that trip, an "attempt to record the travels and experiences of two particular friends during the summer of 1949." It was with Sid that Bill found his approach to life —traveling for business and pleasure, by highway and byway, cruise ship and freighter, prop plane and jet—life as a joy ride.

William A. Heller is a retired international businessman and world traveler. Born in 1927 in Canton, Ohio, he eventually became president of Canton Wood Products Co., makers of white oak barrels for the wine, rum, and whisky trade. He traveled extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Far East— for business and for pleasure. In 1949, after a stint in the Army and graduation from Northwestern University, Bill took the summer off to travel through the western United States and Canada with a friend. His first book, “Joy Ride,” is the story of this trip—the first of many.