Peter Fonda Books

An adult novel of love and temptation. Was made into a brilliant M-G-M presentation,
starring Jane Fonda and Peter Finch, co-stars Angela Lansbury and Arthur Hill,
produced by John Houseman, directed by Robert Stevens.
The story fills a single summer against backgrounds of New York,
suburban London and Greece. At the same time romantic and realistic.

I have purchased 3 copies of this book over the years as I routinely loan them to friends. The book is an easy read, but remarkably comprehensive for a book designed for the lay public. Garrick, unlike many orthopedic surgeons, prefers to take a conservative approach to joint problems with surgery as the last option. He covers rehabilitation for the major joints, advice that has proved invaluable for me for both tennis elbow and a torn ACL. Tennis elbow cleared up following strengthening exercises he recommeded. Strengthening did not resolve the ACL tear in my knee and I did have an ACL repair done. Take his advice, keep your vastus medialis strong and you won't have any knee problems. He offers good advice on self treatment for simple sprains, but clearly points out conditions that need to be seen by a specialist ASAP. I highly recommend this book.

I thought this would be more like info on the bikes owned by the elite & famous. It is mostly people who raced bikes or owned racing empires. Not popular names like the title implies.

First off, this is just a beautiful book. By mixing surprising archival photography with his own solid portraiture, Basem Wasef takes you on a trip in a time machine, from the Bonneville Salt Flats to the flatlands of Indiana and the hometown of James Dean. They are all here and the rides that are forever etched in the American motoring consciousness: Elvis and his 'Glide, Fonda and his chopper and, of course, Evel. But this is no lightweight populist read. Nor is it a look back done from a desk. Wasef literally crisscrossed the country and reported on each and every one of these machines in person. This is a deep dive onto rare bikes that will glue the most avid motorsickle rider to every rich page.

I've never held a special interest in motorcycles, other than acknowledging that they are one of the coolest objects in existence. I bought Legendary Motorcycles because I figured it would serve as a nice conversation piece on my coffee table. I was right - it has been picked up and perused far more often than any other book within reach. The striking cover artwork continues inside, with photos that compel one to flip through the pages. I found myself (and my house guests) wrapped up in many of the stories which accompany the pictures. I expected the writing to be long-winded, boring, and too arcane for anyone other than the 'in' crowd. However, while this book is a must have for motorcycle aficionados, the author also caters to those of us with little or no knowledge of the history and significance of these classic bikes. Very well done, and highly recommended!

I'm not a motorcycle expert, but this book has interesting stories and includes rare photos of important motocycles and their owners. A great gift idea; highly recommended!

I am always a little sceptical everytime a new historical motorcycle book comes out. But "Legendary Motorcycles" really manage to capture my interest, as being well written and well balanced between technical details and interesting histories about the famous people who rode them.
Highly recommendable!

Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Great American Motorcycle Tours by Gary McKechnie offers the reader a wide variety of suggested motorcycle tours ideal for vacationers and cyclists looking for history, excitement, and the joy of the open road. Different tours appeal to different tastes, such an Amish Country Run stretching from New Hope to Intercourse, Pennsylvania, or a Wild West Run from Livingston, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming. Each individual tour has numerous historic stops, and any attraction can be easily looked up in the index for "user friendly" cross-referencing. Overall, Great American Motorcycle Tours is an enjoyable, practical, and very highly recommended guide.

This is a fantastic book! I wanted to take a cross-country tour and this was the only book I found that covered more than one region. Second, the humor is prevalent but it never gets in the way of describing some killer back roads and great historic towns I might have missed. Third, I never felt the lodgings he recommended were that expensive because A) I am a solo rider so the rates are lower for me anyway, and B) if I don't want to stay at a place he lists, I have the option of finding a chain hotel. That's another thing -- at the end of each chapter he lists campgrounds and state parks (for even cheaper camping). Finally, the reason I like this book and would strongly recommend it is for its great references. There are listings for state tourism boards where I can get free detailed maps, a listing of motorcycle shops within a few miles of each place he visits, and websites for motorcycle corporations, rentals, and tours. This is a solid, essential, and ultimately extremely valuable source of information for ALL riders. Buy it.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}

I recently purchased Gary's book in the Spring of '02 for my trips to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Sturgis. It provided an excellent primer for stopping points of interest and quality local eateries. I wasn't hung up on his allowing four days to cover 200 miles, however, I looked at is a buffet in which you can pick and choose the events of interest to you. His advice on packing warmer clothing in the dead of Summer for the elevation changes was dead on. Some may call it 'common sense', but if you see reported temperatures in Asheville at 90 degrees, you may not realize you'll need a jacket and light gloves by the time you hit Mt. Mitchell. I appreciated his advice and considered it money well spent.

The foreword of the book is written by Peter Fonda. I personally fail to make the connection why the endorsement of a Hollywood actor who happened to shoot a motorcycling movie should prove the value of a touring guide. But as I tried out some of the journeys, I started to see how the whole experience, which these suggested trips cater to, is concentrated around the image of motorcycling rather than the actual experience of riding. I wasted a couple of weekends diligently following directions through Pennsylvania and up the Hudson. The book led me through numerous towns and it reserved a lot of pages for information on all the things, which you could do to avoid riding your bike - you could find listings on every thrift store, restaurant, rafting company, and even bicycle tour! available on your way. Another interesting (and related) point was the fact that the author estimated coverage of about 50 miles per day i.e. if the suggested trip was 200 miles total, you were supposed to need 4 to 5 days to cover the distance. While very concentrated on all the entertainment that could be bought along the trip, the book was not especially concerned with the quality of the selected riding. Gorgeous scenic ways were followed by long stretches of banal suburban motifs and while stuck in the stop-and-go traffic I was wondering what part of the motorcycling experience I was supposed to be exercising at the time.
This is my rendering of the qualities, which the reader needs to possess in order to enjoy the recommendations in the book: 1. Your name must be Peter Fonda 2. You must be independently wealthy since you can't both hold a job and go to all these 4-5 days trips. 3. You must be versatile in the outdoors' activities to take full advantage of all the fun that awaits you out there. 4. You need friends who would like to hear about stuff like " When I flew in that helicopter over the Grand Canyon...", and "Here is a picture of me next to an Amish farmer..." 5. You only need basic riding skills and moderate motorcycling enthusiasm.
My advice is - get a map, look for the small roads, use your common sense, and explore. Good luck out there, maybe we'll meet on the road.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}

The foreword of the book is written by Peter Fonda. I personally fail to make the connection why the endorsement of a Hollywood actor who happened to shoot a motorcycling movie should prove the value of a touring guide. But as I tried out some of the journeys, I started to see how the whole experience, which these suggested trips cater to, is concentrated around the image of motorcycling rather than the actual experience of riding. I wasted a couple of weekends diligently following directions through Pennsylvania and up the Hudson. The book led me through numerous towns and it reserved a lot of pages for information on all the things, which you could do to avoid riding your bike - you could find listings on every thrift store, restaurant, rafting company, and even bicycle tour! available on your way. Another interesting (and related) point was the fact that the author estimated coverage of about 50 miles per day i.e. if the suggested trip was 200 miles total, you were supposed to need 4 to 5 days to cover the distance. While very concentrated on all the entertainment that could be bought along the trip, the book was not especially concerned with the quality of the selected riding. Gorgeous scenic ways were followed by long stretches of banal suburban motifs and while stuck in the stop-and-go traffic I was wondering what part of the motorcycling experience I was supposed to be exercising at the time.
This is my rendering of the qualities, which the reader needs to possess in order to enjoy the recommendations in the book: 1. Your name must be Peter Fonda 2. You must be independently wealthy since you can't both hold a job and go to all these 4-5 days trips. 3. You must be versatile in the outdoors' activities to take full advantage of all the fun that awaits you out there. 4. You need friends who would like to hear about stuff like " When I flew in that helicopter over the Grand Canyon...", and "Here is a picture of me next to an Amish farmer..." 5. You only need basic riding skills and moderate motorcycling enthusiasm.
My advice is - get a map, look for the small roads, use your common sense, and explore. Good luck out there, maybe we'll meet on the road.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}

Well started out well. However, a little too much step by step detail read more like a diary you would write while smoking pot. I'm not a prude but maybe he burned a little too many brain cells. So he's anti-establishment and rules. However, he's had the advantage of father's legacy or sister's which helped him get out of allot of crap. If i would of pulled knives or guns on the feds I'd still be in jail.
He's just anti-establishment which means nothing if you haven't any true motives.
Oh yeah, the only movie of his I've seen is easy rider and it's not exactly a cinematic triumph. It was a piece at the time that was highly needed. I mean, timing was excellent as well as the sound track. I love John Kaye!. In summary, if you want to read about a guy who bangs allot of broads (while married) and calls it romance, does allot of drugs and drones about unheard of movie sets this is the book for you.

I have to admit that before reading this book, I knew nothing about Peter Fonda. All I knew was he was Henry's son, Jane's brother, Bridget's father, had starred in and written a counterculture film called "Easy Rider" and did drugs in the 1960's. This book showed that he is so much more than that. This is an excellently written memoir that takes us through his life. It's not pretty but it's honest. Yes, it's a story that includes lots of drugs and a fiery temper when it came to authority figures but that's who he was and I commend him for being honest. After reading the book, I came away really liking Peter.

I knew very little about Peter Fonda before reading his book. He is a very interesting man who bares his soul to the reader. How can you critique what should have been written about (read other reviews)in his book. He loved his days sailing in the Tatoosh (spelled wrong?)The worlds finest wooden sailing yacht. so why wouldn't he write about his adventures on it, with such fond memories. This book was one of the best I have read. He is a very sensitive man who has overcome many odds and has turned his life in a very positive way. What a great book!!!

I liked the writing, and more important, liked Peter. I read the Customer reviews and agree there could be less yachting, but as one reviewer said,"it's his book." Peter is a charmer, and his obvious love and sensitivity toward women is well-written and described. Nowadays, he would be called a "hyper-active" child, no doubt suffering from ADD. A gradually disappearing mother and a cold, stern father were devastating to such a sensitive child. As a reader, I tried to be empathetic with Peter always resorting to tears. (In my family, you die before you cry!)

Remember all the times you have been humiliated and later you think "what I shoulda said--" The Germans call this "the wit of the stairway" meaning your swift retorts when it is long over. I think Peter recalled many incidents the way he'd have LIKED them to turn out, but the truth might be a little different. But hey, it's his book. I don't doubt for a minute, he is very impulsive, feisty, loud and belligerent when the mood, the drugs, the drink, whatever are upon him. I remember I heard Peter had taken to roaring past his sister's home on his motorcycle after she married Tom Hayden, screaming what a worthless hanger on Hayden was; who couldn't afford breakfast unless Jane bought it for him, etc., etc. I don't know whether this is true or not, but after reading the book, I certainly believe Peter is capable of such behavior.

I was surprised he never mentioned his father's last film "On Golden Pond" which his sister Jane worked so hard to put together and Henry won an Academy Award. I don't know if Jane exercised a heavy editorial hand on his writing, or Peter didn't want her overshadowing him. I doubt the last because with all Peter's problems, low self-esteem does not seem a part of him. And it shouldn't be. He is a brilliant man and writer. It is definitely wrong to say he was gypped in family brains dept. He was not as visible as sis and dad, but he is strictly A-list.

Because of this book, I was looking forward to the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation in which Peter Fonda was featured. I don't know whether it was the character he was playing, or if he is sick, but it was difficult to watch. Maybe he thinks that's how a college professor acts. I was married to one and have two sons, one with a PhD, who are college teachers, and none were as stiff as he appeared. It must have been the character, or directing, as he won an award for "Ulee's Gold.'

He is best known for the movie, 'Easy Rider,' which he co-wrote with Dennis Hopper in the 1960s. I was shocked to see the year he was born which means we were growing up at the same time, in the most disparate ways life could be. Here I was in this backward town of Knoxville, TN, enjoying a short singing career on radio, t.v. local talent shows, and stage -- as innocent as a baby.

There he was pretending to be James Dean on a motorcycle (he was the 'wild thing') hobnobbing with Marlon Brando in Rome (on location?), 'hanging out' with Salvador Dali, taking drugs with the British singing group, the Beatles, and suffering through the suicides of his friend, Bridget Hayward (after whom he named his daughter, the actress) and his best friend, Stormy.

He speaks freely of his drug use as if it were the thing to do -- no apologies -- as he watched others "fall into the abyss of abuse" and be pushed "over the edge," explaining that he survived because he didn't have an 'addictive personality.'

In this fascinating memoir, he relates how he'd promised his sister, Jane, that he'd never tell of their growing-up escapades and coming of age exploits (also of their living through child abuse, as did so many of the children of movie stars of that time, example MOMMIE DEAREST about Joan Crawford and the pain of Bing Crosby's older sons as they lived with a harsh, cold father.) Now, Dean Martin's daughter is claiming a similar life in her new book.

Thus, the title 'Don't tell Dad.' I can just hear them telling each other that during their teen years. There were several suicides in his life, the hardest to bear was that of his mother. He tells how the family tried to hide it as if it were a 'taint' on them.

His mother, Frances Seymour, had been born in Ontario, Canada. He traces his heritage on her side of the family to Richard Seymour who settled in this country in 1639 and his link to Lady Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII's third wife. Could be that is where his sister Jane got her name, as her nickname was Lady Jane. Frances had been married to George Brokaw (who'd just divorced Clare Booth Luce), an alcoholic from Old Money and into sailing when he died. Thus, a link in ancestry with Tom Brokaw on NBC. Her father, Eugene Ford Seymour, a superior court judge, had also been an alcoholic. Guess he could say that his tendency to try drugs was in the genes.

His father, Henry Fonda, has a heritage going back to 13th century Italy, then 200 years in the Netherlands before leaving Amsterdam for America in 1651. Peter's parents had met on a luxury liner bound for England, she on vacation while he was on his way to a movie set and were married in 1939, after which he had a wartime stint in the Pacific in 1943.

"Few things have been perfect in my life, but there is no way I'd desire to 'do it over.' I would prefer to never again think of the dark parts of my past." Wouldn't we all!

Peter was born in New York City but lived with his dad in Brentwood (L. A.) in a mansion near his grandmother's house. His step-grandfather was Oscar Hammerstein. There are some similarities between his life in California and that of Chuck Southcott (he's six months younger than Peter), who is my soul and inspiration on the radio. Just this afternoon, he played Michael Feinstein's version of WISH YOU WERE HERE. Thanks, Chuck!

The photo section is fantastic, full of what I call the 'beautiful people.' Peter was a cute little boy and looked like my youngest son, Justin (who also played soccer as a youth). I was pleased to learn that he named his son Justin. Though I've never known him, there is that connection.

Though he lived the 'high life' to which he was born and, my goodness, he led an interesting life and learned his acting in New York. He didn't just 'follow in his father's footsteps.' He made some of his own in many films including 'The Rounders,' 'Race With the Devil,' 'The Wild Angels,' 'Hawkens Breed,' 'Futureworld,' 'Blue Water Hunters,' and 'Tammy and the Doctor'(with Sandra Dee).

In the end, he learned that "it is all about forgiveness and, most importantly, I have learned to forgive myself." That makes him a big man. He was able to forgive all those who hurt him 'deep in his heart,' he said. That's something I cannot do.

I hope he will forgive me for the criticism at the beginning of this review. What do I know about acting anyway? At a recent one-man performance about Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth in a tiny "box" theater, the actor said after the play, "I enjoyed playing off you." I'd emphathized with both roles throughout his credible acting and kept my eyes on him. I've seen many plays and an enormous number of movies, but I have never acted.

His ending leaves the reader feeling that Jane was the 'chip off the old block' with her stern reprimands and orders to her younger brother, even as adults, and her entreaty, "Don't Tell Dad."

I do believe he had a love affair with the motorcycle. In the photo on the back jacket cover, he could be Evil Kenevil. He was a handsome lad. His mother, had she survived, would be so proud of her son and his achievements.