Earl Thollander: Sketching the World’s Back Roads

Thollander’s claim to fame were his ‘Back Roads’ illustrated books. His true desire, as a reporter-artist with wanderlust, was to just slow down, observe and appreciate the world in all its diversity.

Thollander sketching from a hotel roof in Antakya, Turkey, 1962

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island said, “for travel’s sake…the great affair is to move.” This was also the dictum of reporter artist and world traveler Earl Thollander (1923-2001). Best known for his Back Roads series of books of travel sketches and trip notes, Thollander took archetypal journeys of both expanse and detail. He traveled widely and observed it all.

Sketch of old fire truck, map and hand drawn text of the Tahoe, California region by Earl Thollander for Back Roads of California, © 1971 Sunset Books

Born, raised and educated in San Francisco, Thollander illustrated many children's books and cookbooks before wanderlust took hold, and along with it,  the intention to slow down and appreciate the diversity and fragility of California, Oregon and Washington State.

He wrote:

“(What I do) has nothing to do with haste and everything to do with taking time to perceive with full consciousness the Earth’s ever-changing colors, designs and patterns.”

Beginning in the 1960s, he made drawings of his trips along the U.S. West Coast and further inland for his book Back Roads of California. The beautiful page design vividly demonstrates his skill of organizing information through illustrations, maps, and hand-drawn text. 

Sketch of Calico and Odessa Railroad Train in Barstow, California by Earl Thollander for Back Roads of California © 1971 Sunset Books