By Janette Turner

“I love the offbeat,” said Chuck Woodbury, Thursday night’s speaker at Edmonds Literary Series, as he recounted favorite stories from 30 years traveling on roads out west. Starting before he “dyed his hair gray,” Woodbury ventured on everything from “Good Road” to “Best Road.” But all roads seemed to head in the right direction, as he made his way from a penniless traveler in the cheapest “and worst” R.V. to being courted by producers for David Letterman and Charlie Rose.

Along the way, Woodbury created a publishing empire that grew out of his travel journaling for his own periodical, “Out West.” But the big leap happened when he answered the question: Do you want to be on the evening news? “If you say ‘no,’” said Woodbury, “then you’re foolish, and if you say ‘yes,’ then you’re terrified.” Choosing to be terrified, he endured a film crew and an introduction by Peter Jennings, which led to more interview offers and subscriptions to his paper. That publication featured offbeat stories about Walmart greeters, flaggers, and the occasional corn cob factory, alongside town attractions, such as invented lake monsters and dinosaur-llama mascots. Woodbury also captured the decline of small towns, along with the decline of print journalism from its hey-day, when he used a Macintosh computer and a portable dark room, to current times where cell phones record everyone’s life on the road.

These days Woodbury doesn’t plan retirement or putting together a resume for a company job. He’s keeping busy with his website, RVTravel, and YouTube channel. Plus, Australia’s got some open roads, and he’s ready to see which roads there are “good” and “best.”