Education of a Wandering Man

“We are, finally, all wanderers in search of knowledge. Most of us hold the dream of becoming something better than we are, something larger, richer, in some way more important to the world and ourselves. Too often, the way taken is the wrong way, with too much emphasis on what we want to have, rather than what we wish to become.” - Louis L’Amour 

I grew up watching a lot of westerns on television. As a child in Germany, my family and I would watch back-to-back episodes of Bonanza. After watching an episode in English, we would switch the channel and watch another episode in German.  

I watched plenty of other western shows as well. Gunsmoke, The Iron Horse, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Wanted: Dead or Alive. The Wild, Wild, West was a particular favorite. After moving to America, I watched The Big Valley, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, and Wagon Train. 

When I got into reading I started with science fiction. It wasn’t until I was much older that I started branching out into other genres. Mostly mysteries and historical fiction. John MacDonald’s Travis McGee, Robert Parker’s Spenser, and Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe. 

A couple of years ago I was browsing in a Barnes and Noble and found the western section. Most of the shelf space was taken up with Louis L’Amour books. I had heard of him but had never read anything of his. Among the many novels were a series short story collections. I was surprised to see adventure and crime stories included among frontier stories. This was around the time that I had just rediscovered my love of short stories. I picked up the first volume of the frontier stories, read a few stories, and really enjoyed them. 

Recently I learned that Louis L’Amour had written a book titled Education of a Wandering Man, about his experiences traveling, reading, and writing. It sounded quite interesting so I grabbed it. It turned out to be one of those books that one thinks about when you’re not reading it, one of those books that you can’t wait to get back to. 

The book is part memoir, part reading list, and part writing advice. Louis L’Amour writes about leaving school at the age of fifteen and traveling around the western U.S and the Far East during what he calls his knockabout years.  He describes his experiences as a hobo, a ranch hand, a mine guard, a seaman, and a few other occupations. 

The one constant is his search for knowledge and books. It’s amazing how much he read and how interested he was in other cultures. It does jump around a bit. He’ll drop a topic suddenly and start writing about something else. He repeats himself sometimes. He mentions more than once that it’s basically a first draft. It does read that way sometimes. It’s a shame that he passed away before he could revise and add to it, but it still makes for fascinating reading. 

In the last chapter he talks about the efforts that have been made to preserve our record on earth and our need to leave an account of our presence. He also explains that in some parts of Asia, where there are frequent rockslides and cave-ins, one may not be certain if the way will be clear. When people in those regions meet in passing they often greet each other with, “May there be a road!” 

That really spoke to me. I mean, that’s life, right? You never know what kind of obstacles may be in your path, or even if the path you are following will lead somewhere. It seems only natural that people would want to wish each other good luck on their journeys.

I found that last chapter extremely motivating. I’ve gone back and read it a number of times now. 

The appendix includes lists of the books he read from 1930 to 1935, and 1937. It’s an impressive list.

His sincere enthusiasm for books, for learning, for other cultures, and for life in general grabbed me for the start and would not let go.

May there be a road!