Bookstr Talks: Live With Author Ed Davis

Bookstr is hosting a Facebook Live interview with author Ed Davis on his upcoming book The Last Professional.

Author Interviews Author's Corner Bookstr Talks Events

The last two years have left most of us feeling constrained and aching for an escape to some far-off lands, even if only for a couple of days. And since the nomad life has recently gained popularity, thanks to the gram, we’re sure wanderlust has hit us hard. Ever wondered, though, what nomad life was like way before the gram, or even the internet?

We’re going to be talking to one such traveler, author Ed Davis, who will spill the beans on all his experiences of nomadic living and train-hopping. From living on $5 a day, to sleeping under the same bridge as Kerouac, let us go on a virtual joy ride with him, as he narrates some awe-inspiring tales of his own days of adventure.

About Ed Davis:

“From the moment I caught my first freight train as a kid and felt it literally carry me away, I knew my life would never be the same.”

Ed Davis began his writing career over forty years ago, pausing in boxcars, under streetlamps, and in hobo jungles to capture the beats and rhythms of the road as he caught freight trains and vagabonded around the Pacific Northwest and Canada. As Ed illustrates in Forty Years from Boxcar to Book Launch The Last Professional was born on the rails. His short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals. His novella, In All Things, and his collection of travel pieces, Road Stories, have both been Amazon Top Ten bestsellers. Ed’s death row thriller, A Matter of Time, was written in real-time, twenty-four hours, as the last day of the hero’s life unfolds. His work has appeared in Gris-Gris, New English Review, and The Penman Review, among others. Ed and his wife Jan live in Northern California, not far from Jack London’s Beauty Ranch.

About The Last Professional:

In returning to the rails – the river of steel – fifteen years after a childhood trauma that haunts him, young Lynden Hoover gets help from The Duke, an old hobo who calls America’s landscape his home and adheres to a time-honored code. Bonds are formed, and secrets exposed as The Duke flees Short Arm, his relentless and brutal nemesis.


The Duke mentors Lynden on life on the tracks, using the vibrant language of the boxcar life gleaned from years riding across great swaths of the country. With the help of the trusted “knights of the road”, Lynden and The Duke head to a harrowing climax
with Short Arm where generations collide and lives hang in the balance.

This adventurous story is illustrated by Colin Elgie, artist for rock and roll record covers from Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Rush, Genesis, and many more. So expect to uncover seventeen beautiful illustrations as you read Lynden Hoover’s story.

Jerry Cimino, Founder of The Beat Museum in San Francisco states that “With The Last Professional, Davis has done for American railroads what Kerouac did for American highways, and Steinbeck did for American nomads.”

The Last Professional is a fictionalized version of Davis’s last leg of his own life on the road. And today, we are speaking with the author about the stories and inspirations that led to the creation of this book.

Join us on Thursday, January 27th at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT for the Facebook Live.

IMAGES VIA ED DAVIS. EVENT & FEATURED IMAGE VIA BOOKSTR/AURORA PARKINSON.