Discover the Best Books Written by William Least Heat-Moon

William Least Heat-Moon (born William Lewis Trogdon August 27, 1939) is an American travel writer and historian of English, Irish, and Osage ancestry. He is the author of several books chronicling unusual journeys through the United States, including cross-country trips by boat (River-Horse, 1999) and, in his best-known work (1982's Blue Highways), about his journey in a 1975 Ford Econoline van.

William Trogdon was born in Kansas City, Missouri. The Trogdon family name comes from his Euro-American lineage, and the Heat-Moon name reflects his Osage lineage. William's father is Heat-Moon, his elder brother is Little Heat-Moon, and he is Least Heat-Moon. Least Heat-Moon grew up in Missouri, where he attended public schools. He attended the University of Missouri, earning a bachelor's degree in 1961, a master's in 1962, and a Ph.D. in 1972 (all in English). 

He later returned and completed a bachelor's in photojournalism at MU in 1978. Least Heat-Moon was a member of the Beta-Theta chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He later served as a professor of English at the university. Least Heat-Moon resides in Boone County near the Missouri River. Blue Highways (1982) is a chronicle of a three-month-long road trip that Least Heat-Moon took throughout the United States in 1978 after he had lost his teaching job and been separated from his first wife. 

He tells how he traveled 13,000 miles, as much as possible on secondary roads, and tried to avoid cities. These roads were often drawn on maps in blue in the old-style Rand McNally road atlas, hence the book title. Living out of his van, he visited small towns such as Nameless, Tennessee; Hachita, New Mexico; and Bagley, Minnesota, to find places in America untouched by fast food chains and interstate highways. 

The book records his search for something greater than himself and includes memorable encounters in roadside cafés. This memoir was very popular, making the New York Times bestseller list in 1982–83 for 42 weeks. It was also the winner of a Christopher Award in 1984. PrairyErth: A Deep Map (1991) accounts for the history and people of Chase County, Kansas. This work introduced the concept of a deep map.

River-Horse (1999) is Least Heat-Moon's account of a four-month coast-to-coast boat trip across the U.S., where he traveled almost exclusively on the nation's waterways from the Atlantic to the Pacific. During this nearly 5,000-mile journey, he followed documented routes recorded by early explorers such as Henry Hudson and the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Columbus in the Americas (2002) is a brief history of Christopher Columbus's journeys. Roads to Quoz (2008) is another "roadbook." This covers "not one long road trip, but a series of shorter ones" taken over the years between books. Robert Sullivan of the New York Times Book Review commented that Least Heat-Moon celebrates "serendipity and joyous disorder."

Here, There, Elsewhere (2013) is a collection of Least Heat-Moon's best short-form travel writing. An Osage Journey to Europe 1827-1830 (2013) was translated and edited by Least Heat-Moon and James K Wallace. It accounts for six Osage people who traveled to Europe in 1827, accompanied by three Americans.

Writing 'Blue Highways' (2014) accounts for how Least Heat-Moon wrote his best-selling book Blue Highways. In reflecting on the journey, he also discusses writing, publishing, personal relationships, and many other aspects that went into writing the book. It won an award for Distinguished Literary Achievement, Missouri Humanities Council, 2015. Celestial Mechanics: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night (2017) is William Least Heat-Moon's debut novel.