“As we celebrate the centennial of Route 66 this summer, it is wonderful to have a book that pays tribute to the women who shaped its culture and roadside environment, highlighting both their visible and behind-the-scenes contributions.” — Lauren Brickey, St. Louis Public Library
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The manuscript for my new book, Aprons Away: Women’s Work on Route 66, has been submitted to my great publisher Reedy Press in St. Louis and is in their most capable hands to copy edit and make suggestions! Meanwhile, the book cover is being designed and will be available to share with you all soon!
NEW BOOK RELEASED! Route 66:100 Years, a Route 66 Centennial anthology, has been released! Jim Hinckley, Editor and Author, headed up this amazing project to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Route 66 in 2026! Five more of us contributed chapters to this anthology. I was delighted to write the Illinois Chapter for this book! The book is available in numerous book store chains, indie book stores, and Route 66 gift shops along the Mother Road! I encourage you to “shop small” if you can when purchasing books but don’t forget that the book is available on Amazon and other major online retailers.
It was my pleasure to present a talk for Visit Springfield (Illinois) on Saturday afternoon, July 19, “Adventurers, Crusaders, and Entrepreneurs: The Women of Illinois Route 66,” (based on my upcoming book!) for the 16th annual History Comes Alive series of events in Springfield, Illinois, on Saturday July 19th, 2025, at the Pharmacy Gallery & Art Space at 623 E. Adams St., Springfield, Illinois!
My new book, Aprons Away: Women's Work on Route 66, will be published in Spring 2026 by REEDY PRESS of ST. LOUIS! After 10 years of research, collecting stories, writing articles/giving presentations/writing and directing a stage play about the topic, in addition to many stops and starts on the book manuscript itself, I am so excited to share this news! This is my eighth book that I have authored or co-authored. (I have co-authored three. This is my fifth solo book.) I’ll be sharing more news about the book’s progress in upcoming months.
I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be giving a presentation, “Adventurers, Crusaders, and Entrepreneurs: The Women of Illinois Route 66,” (based on my upcoming book!) for the 16th annual History Comes Alive series of events in Springfield, Illinois! Program Date: Saturday July 19th, 2025, at 3pm at the Pharmacy Gallery & Art Space 623 E. Adams St., Springfield, Illinois.
Happy New Year, dear Readers and Friends! 2024 was such a whirlwind that it’s a bit hard to realize that the year is actually over! But it is, and here we are with a fresh new year of hopes and plans and projects and changes. There is a saying that “Everything you say YES to in this life means saying NO to something else.” I believe that’s true, because, after all, time is indeed finite! In order for me to say “YES” to an old project I’ve long been wanting to finish and to a couple new projects I’ve been thinking about for a year or so, I’ve said “NO” to continuing some other commitments. I’ll be sharing some news on the new projects before long, but I wanted to jump on here on New Year’s Day to say a big THANK YOU to all of your for your support!
Wow, it’s been my pleasure to be a guest on Robby Robinson’s Monday night show, “Jam’n Java,” with a “Route 66 Chick” segment for the past two years (during the summer/fall tourism season! Just in case you don’t know Robby, he is a phenomenal musician and has been keyboardist and music director with the incredible (and still rocking at age 90!) Frankie Valli for 46 years! Robby is also my long-time, high-school-days friend from Litchfield, Illinois, and we have definitely done some reminiscing during some of the Route 66 segments. (Litchfield is, of course, an Illinois Route 66 town.) Robby did a fantastic arrangement and recording of the “(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66” song with amazing upcoming vocalist Sara Niemietz (you must listen at Route 66 Robby Robinson). And of course, we’re both BIG fans of our hometown’s Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center! So that’s sort of how I ended up with an invitation to do a Route 66 segment on his Monday night show, which is always packed with music, Route 66, Frankie Valli tour info and reports, and “all things Robby Robinson!” As of November 18, 2024, I’m on winter hiatus from the show, but will be back on in the spring!
Screen shot from Robby Robinson’s “Jam’n Java Live,” during the new Route 66 segment.
Photo of sunrise in Pontiac, Illinois, by Cheryl Eichar Jett.
Route 66 — the very words inspire nostalgia, excitement, and a longing for the open road. Back then it was the way you got to where you were going. My first two Route 66 books were published in 2010 by Arcadia Publishing, followed by two more in 2014 and 2016. Recently released in 2025, Route 66:100 Years, a Centennial anthology features Editor Jim Hinckley and five additional authors, including my chapter on Illinois Route 66. Currently, I’m completing the edits for Aprons Away: Women’s Work on Route 66, coming in Spring 2026 from Reedy Press! I’ve written over 300 published historical and travel articles, most about Route 66, which have appeared in Route 66 Magazine, Show Me Route 66, ROUTE Magazine, and others.
Growing up, my mother was an inspiring role model, a woman with a career but also an attentive, nurturing mother. My 4th-great grandmother Celea Sampson Cole was a heroine of the War of 1812. A distant cousin, Deborah Sampson, disguised herself as a man to join the patriot forces in the American Revolution. As a non-traditional student twenty-five years ago, for my master’s thesis I wrote about Native American women’s work roles in World War II. Now, my book about the lives and work of women along historic Route 66 — Aprons Away: Women’s Work on Route 66 — is going into production! I can hardly wait to share it with you when it releases in Spring 2026! There are numerous book talks and book signings in the works for 2026 — hope to see you then!
There’s no end to the list of intriguing road trips and destinations in the U.S.! I’ve been a road-trip lover for a long time, and there’s still a long list of places I haven’t yet visited. For four years, I chronicled some of the most iconic destinations in America as a contributing writer at ROUTE Magazine. For the past year, I’ve stepped back from doing a lot of magazine writing to be able to complete my book Apron’s Away: Women’s Work on Route 66 to be published by Reedy Press in Spring 2026! You can still enjoy my stories in my column “Along Route 66 and Beyond” in the monthly regional publication The Prairie Land Buzz, plus there will be some excerpts from my new book from Reedy Press coming out in various magazines. I’ll make a note of them in the “News & Blog” section.
My stage play, Aprons Away: Women’s Work on the Mother Road, premiered in a one-act version in October 2018 as one of the conference session slots at the fourth annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference, hosted by and held at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. It was truly a thrill to “bring to life” some of the significant stories of women from the historic Route 66 era on the stage of the amazing, state-of-the-art Bothwell Auditorium on the Blackburn College campus. Next, a full two-act version of Aprons Away was generously sponsored by the Route 66 Association of Illinois and produced by Pontiac Tourism at the lovely, restored Eagle Performing Arts Center in Pontiac, Illinois, on June 22-23, 2019. Again, what a thrill! With an amazing cast and crew, we wowed them in Pontiac! Then, with interest high in bringing Aprons Away to additional Route 66 venues and cities, the pandemic changed our lives forever. Now, there’s hope for a new production of Aprons Away! Please visit the Aprons Away website at Aprons Away on Route 66 for photos and more information.
Stephanie Rhein as Edna, a Phillips 66 Highway Hostess, in the 2019 production of Aprons Away in Pontiac, Illinois.
