Here it is, ten years since the first edition of the Eccentric America guidebook series. I never dreamed that the subject would have so many fans, nor did I expect the deluge of emails with suggestions for more sites to include in future editions.
I used to think I had to leave the United States in order to have an adventure. Off I would go, ticking off country after country in search of ever more exciting experiences. Then, after visiting 56 of them, I started having a bit more adventure than I’d bargained for. A hostage-like experience in South America, brought about by a sudden government collapse, caused my daughter to inquire if I’d written a will, while a somewhat harrowing, month-long drive across South Africa had my parents ruing the day I’d ever learned to read a map. Even though I prefer traveling alone, I began to question whether I had an obsession that might require some analysis (too expensive) or, at the least, some redirecting (too boring). Just about that time I was offered the opportunity to write Eccentric America.
To this day I don’t know if I was chosen for the job because the publisher thought I was sufficiently “nutters”, as they say in England, or because I live in San Francisco and she must have figured, “it takes one to know one”. Whatever the reason, I set off on what I imagined would be a fairly dull assignment in light of the kind of traveling I was accustomed to. I’d been practically everywhere in the United States and, while I enjoyed regional foods and geographic variety, I pretty much thought our melting pot had morphed into a lightly seasoned stew. Plus there’s precious little adventure to be had in homogenized motel chains and fast food stops; corporations bought up our highways long ago. I thought I’d be looking at roadside with a twist. Little did I realize how many real people, with the oddest of obsessions and the most peculiar of pursuits, were out there just waiting to be seen and heard.
Once I started looking—really looking--beyond the surface of my mistaken stereotypes, I found not a stew, but a cornucopia of distinct dishes cooked up by people likely to change the recipe on a whim. I found a country full of individualistic people, states and regions with quirky characters lurking all over the fringes of their tourism landscapes. I saw what it really means to be adventuresome--to be free to express one’s individuality and to have the courage to do so. The people who ended up in this book exemplify the American dream, perhaps not in terms of money or power or prestige, but certainly in terms of freedom.
As a whole, as a society, we Americans are fiercely proud of our independent heritage and of our trailblazing qualities. We’re a culture based on unprecedented opportunity to achieve individual potential and the freedom to behave in a manner that both delights and shocks foreign visitors. But the truth is, as individuals most of us are conformists. Within our little bubbles of society, however eccentric they may be, we go along with the crowd, with the “norm”. We may think of ourselves as rugged individualists by our activities or political views, but, as singular individuals, most of us are pretty predictable. What we once thought unconventional has become commonplace, just average.
I met so many truly unique people in the course of writing about eccentricity, people willing and eager to share their unconventional passions and visions; people able to burst out of society’s bubble. I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for those who see our world through slightly skewed glasses. I feel so vanilla compared to these chocolates, rocky roads, and almond-caramel-raspberry-fudge swirls. I’ve been enriched, as I hope you will be, by their stories, activities, and achievements, as well as by their unwavering determination to stay their own personal course.
When I started my research, I worried that people might be offended at the title. It turned out that only a handful of the many thousands of people I spoke with took offense at the suggestion they – or their attraction – might be eccentric. In fact, dozens of folks went out of their way to convince me of their eccentricity so they might be included in the book. It turns out that eccentricity is perceived as an honor, a validation of our uniqueness that usually goes unacknowledged.
The scope of this subject is staggering even to me, and yet I uncover more eccentrics every day. I’m so captivated by their courage and achievements that I can’t stop looking, which probably means that I’m becoming eccentric myself in this obsessive quest for weirdness. I hope this is a good thing, because I think we need to be reminded of the value of nonconformity. I like to think that sharing their stories will make a difference, not only in their lives, but also in yours. It surely has in mine.
Now technology makes it possible for all of us to share our enthusiasm for eccentricities online. I hope that making this move to web based communication and publishing will bring more opportunities to enjoy the strange and wonderful quirks our culture offers.
-Jan Friedman