John Robinson grew up in the Ozarks, and graduated from Mizzou J-School. Along the way he formed a deep abiding love for Missouri's culture. He served Missouri as director of tourism immediately following the tragic events of 9/11. Beyond all that, he sailed on the Queen Mary, held a tarantula, moved grand pianos for a while, and sat in a gas chamber. He was a field producer for America's Most Wanted. John is an avid sailor, and survived Hurricane Omar and Tropical Storm Gamma. But his sloop was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. John and Cheryl live in Columbia.
Email: cjrobin@socket.net
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Available Presentations (h3 text)
Available Presentations
A Road Trip Into America's Hidden Heart
Together, my car and I have traveled every mile of every road on Missouri's highway map, a 300,000-mile journey to discover the real America beyond the interstate veneer. Real People. Obscure places, Forgotten facts. Along the roadsides we found stories in diners and dives and dead-ends, in graveyards and courthouses and museums, we found history and culture beyond the beaten path, and tales that shout out from America's flyover country. During this 13-year odyssey I kept notes in 40+ steno notebooks, and eventually wrote the stories that appear in my books and magazine submissions. My speakers bureau presentation will explain why I set out on this journey, and tell some of the stories I encountered along the way. For each audience, I will select stories and subject matter custom-tailored to t their interests. There are 350 million different reasons why people travel. But one common thread runs through them all: stories. People want to hear stories. I'll give 'em my story, and within that road trip framework, tell more tales.
Program Underwriting
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Program Underwriting
Each speaker can provide up to four presentations to underserved rural communities at no cost to the hosting institution. For the presentation to be covered by program underwriting, the host organization must be nonprofit and located outside Boone, Greene, Jackson, and St. Louis counties and outside the city of St. Louis.
For presentations that qualify for program underwriting, there is no cost to the host organization. The number of underwritten presentations this speaker has remaining is indicated below.
Requesting a Speaker
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Requesting a Speaker
Contact the speaker directly to make arrangements.