Anthem H

Book excerpt: When twenty-six-year-olds Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn quit their Hollywood jobs, packed up a borrowed car and hit the road, it was with the deeply felt conviction that somewhere, shrouded in the din of talk shows and tabloid headlines, they'd discover the real America, alive and well in all of its regions and demographics. Armed with a Powerbook, a couple of video cameras and the names and phone numbers of over two hundred Americans they viewed as visionaries or cultural icons, they embarked on a journey that would take them from historic New Orleans to the rainforests of Washington, from the skyscraper-lined avenues of New York City to the dusty roads of the Great Plains. Never did they imagine that they'd drive recklessly through the back roads of Aspen with Hunter S. Thompson, see the President of the United States lose his temper, be in the CNN newsroom on the day of the O. J. Simpson verdict, or survive the hottest day in Chicago history with America's chronicler, Studs Terkel. During their six-month journey, Gabel and Hahn interviewed luminaries from every field and walk of life. They talked to business people, politicians, activists, scientists, writers and artists, including Robert Redford, Michael Stipe, Willie Nelson, Geraldine Ferraro, John Irving and American poet laureate, Rita Dove, to name a few. They also talked to everyday people they encountered along the way, from a sixty-five-year-old waitress in Iowa to a haygrinder in North Dakota.