Retired English Teacher Richard P. Sinay Releases Epistolary Autobiography of a 25,000-Mile U.S. Road Trip

Richard P. Sinay, who taught English and reading in Orange County, California, for 35 years, has released Observations of America and My Ancestral Past: An Epistolary Autobiography. The book is a daily account of a 25,000-mile journey around the United States, and it is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Observations-America-Ancestral-Past-Autobiography/dp/1965216048. Sinay began the trip in early May 2014 with two goals. He wanted to see as much of the country as possible and check off items on a personal bucket list. He also wanted to find out where his paternal grandfather and grandmother came from, a question that had never been settled in his family. He drove a new car he named Rocinante, and he brought his golf clubs.

The book is a diary-form memoir. Sinay says he was inspired to write it after learning that a diary is a recognized kind of autobiography, called an epistolary autobiography. He describes the finished work as a small window into what he did with his life after his teaching career. The material began as a blog on Facebook, where he posted narration and photographs while he traveled so that friends could follow along. When he gathered those writings, he found he had a book-length manuscript.

The project reflects a common dilemma. People with full working lives often postpone the travel and personal projects they say they want to do someday. Sinay frames his book around that tension. He recalls that as a high school student he watched John Goddard, an adventurer who visited his school and narrated films of his expeditions. Goddard wrote a list of 127 life goals and completed 109 of them before he died in 2013 at age 90. Sinay writes that his own experiences "pale by comparison," but he says the idea was the same: decide what matters and then go do it.

Sinay's trip had a literary model. He named his car Rocinante after the horse in Don Quixote. John Steinbeck gave the same name to the GMC truck he drove around the country and documented in Travels with Charley. Sinay notes that he did not travel with a dog, as Steinbeck did, but he did take his golf clubs. The book follows his route day by day and combines the sightseeing, the bucket-list stops, and the genealogical research that he says motivated the whole journey in the first place.

The ancestry thread gives the book a purpose beyond a travelogue. Sinay writes that the exact origin of his paternal grandparents was a mystery, and that rumors about their past had circulated among relatives. His plan was to research the question during the trip. He then intended to share his findings with his many first cousins on his father's side, in the hope of dispelling those rumors. The book presents that research as part of the narrative, so readers follow the search along with the author rather than receiving a summary of conclusions.

Sinay was open about how the book was assembled. He writes that some liberties were taken in its production because the travels happened in different years. To make a complete record, he folded in other trips he took after retiring. The book is therefore a composite of his post-retirement travels, organized around the 2014 journey, and not a strict single-trip log. He also states that the book contains no photographs. He says the printing cost of images would make it impossible to turn a profit on each sale. He has the pictures, and says he will add them to a second edition if the book sells well.

Travel memoirs are plentiful, and many follow a similar template of a notable route, a famous destination, or a dramatic challenge. Sinay's book differs in a few specific ways. It began as real-time social media posts written for friends, which gives it the tone of letters rather than polished retrospective prose. Its author is a longtime English teacher who describes his life as less accomplished than that of his boyhood hero, and he says so plainly. And it pairs a cross-country road trip with a personal genealogy question, so the journey is both outward across the country and backward into family history.

"I wanted to see as much of the country as I could and settle where my grandparents came from. This book shares both with my family and readers," said Richard P. Sinay, author.

The book is likely to appeal to several kinds of readers. Retirees who are weighing their own long-deferred trips may recognize the motivation Sinay describes, particularly his point that making a living leaves little time for a bucket list. Readers interested in family history may value the account of searching for the origins of grandparents when records and family stories do not agree. Fans of road-trip literature, and of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in particular, will find a direct reference point in the naming of Rocinante. Former students and colleagues of the author, along with his Facebook followers, will see how the original posts developed into a book.

The book also has a use for families with unanswered questions about their past. Sinay set out to share his research with his cousins, which turns the work into a record for relatives as well as a book for the general public. Readers who have tried to trace grandparents with unclear origins may recognize the problem he describes. His approach combined travel with research, so the book shows how a personal investigation can fit alongside a trip planned for other reasons. It also shows one way to turn an informal online diary into a lasting document that can be read and shared.

Observations of America and My Ancestral Past: An Epistolary Autobiography is available now on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Observations-America-Ancestral-Past-Autobiography/dp/1965216048. The listing includes the book description and the author's biography, and readers can buy directly from that page. The book is classified as an autobiography. As the author notes, it is text only, with no photographs. Readers who want to preview the premise can read the description on the listing page, which includes the author's account of the trip, the origin of the project, and the reasoning behind its structure.

The book is part of a larger body of work by Sinay, who spends most of his time reading and writing. He says that if the book finds a wide audience, he will publish a second edition with photographs from the trip. His other titles include Who We Met on the Way to Stanford: A Father's Memoir, How to Get a Golf Scholarship to Stanford: A Parent's Guide, and Crazy Little Children Are Jangling the Keys of the Kingdom: The Estrangement Epidemic in America. He has also written a series of books under the title Confessions of an English Teacher, drawing on his decades in California high schools and community colleges. His books cover travel, family, golf, and education.

About Richard P. Sinay: Richard Sinay taught English and reading in high school and college in Orange County, California, for 35 years. He spends most of his time reading and writing. His books include Who We Met on the Way to Stanford: A Father's Memoir, How to Get a Golf Scholarship to Stanford: A Parent's Guide, Observations of America and My Ancestral Past: An Epistolary Autobiography, Crazy Little Children Are Jangling the Keys of the Kingdom: The Estrangement Epidemic in America, and several titles in the Confessions of an English Teacher series. Observations of America and My Ancestral Past is available at https://www.amazon.com/Observations-America-Ancestral-Past-Autobiography/dp/1965216048.