Overland Journal – August 01, 2019

OVERLAND JOURNAL FALL 2019

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whereverand wheneveryou chooseto go

or stay.”Mostoverlandershavethe same

objective,thoughit manifestsin different

ways.Whatdo you see as the biggest

advantageto this method?

It’sa differentsliceoflife.Youdon’thave

tobetiedtoanofficeorhouse,youcanrun

your entire life from your vehicleor Air-

stream.Get outthere anduseit,enjoy it,

andseetheworld. Your only limits are your

heart’s desires.

partofthelegacy,theexperiences,andheld
productadmiration.Tousethewordloyalty
is thewrongexpressionformyfeelingsfor
Wally;I believefriendship,love,andmentor
areclosertomyheart.Loyaltyis justpartof
theequation.I wasalwaysthereforhim—in
Africa,othercaravans,andduringhisterminal
illnesspriortohispassingin 1962.
Airstreamwasn’tjustanotherjob,it was
a fantastic training journey. My employ-
ment began as a receivingclerk,thenor-
ganizingtheirpersonneloffice intoa new
department,tocostaccounting,andfinally,
materialsmanager.Itwasa firsthandview
indealingwithofficeandcompanypolitics.
Wally never wanted me to work at Air-
stream—hehadloftiergoalsin mindforme.
I solovedAirstreamthatit seemednatural
formetoworkthere,butit wasnevera job.

Whatdoesthe imageof an Airstream
invokein you?
Suchpridetoknowthatwithinmyfamily,
Airstreamwasdesignedandowned.Know-
ingthat attimes,extreme hardshipswere
experiencedbyWallytokeephiscompany
open,andthedoors almostshut onmore
thanoneoccasion.Thathisdetermination,
stick-to-itiveness, and marketing acumen
createdtheAirstreamforpeopletouseand
enjoy.Wallywouldbebustinghisbuttonsat
theseamif hesawhowAirstreamis stillgo -
ingstronginthe21stcentury,aniconfor
Americanmanufacturedproducts.Because
ofhisforesight,heand Airstream havebe-
comelegendary.

Your fatherwas an insuranceagentand
while he supported your early escapades,

he wasn’ta travelingman himself.You

referto Wallyas a surrogatefather,but

how muchinfluencedid your real father

haveon your life?

Thereis a lovethatyouhavewithyourpar-

ents.Thatis somethingmyfatherandI had,

that no other manincluding Wally could

evergiveme.I remembereverynightmom

cookeddinner,dadwashedthedishes,and

I driedthem.Duringthisroutinewesang

old songssuchas“Down bytheOldMill

Stream”and“BicycleBuiltforTwo.”

Onetimewewerereturningto ourcarin

downtownBakersfieldafterI hadjustpur-

chaseda comicbook.Mydadtookit from

meandgaveit toa childwaitingforthebus.

Atthetime,I didn’tunderstandandwasvis-

ibly upset.My dadtoldmethatthechild

obviouslycamefroma familythatcouldn’t

afforda comicbookandhewantedthechild

tohavesomethinginsteadofbeingwithout.

Hetoldmethatwewouldstopandbuyme

a replacement.Dadwaskind,generous,and

loving—agreatfamilyman.

BeforegoingtoAfrica,mydad’scliché

for keeping out of trouble was repeated,

“Keep your nose clean!”He also made it

knownformetosupportWally 100 percent.

My dad wasn’t a traveling man, but

if there were Airstream rallies nearby,he

wouldaccompanymymother.Thecaravan-

nersjustlovedmydad.He died too early in

1966 at theageof 63.

In a letterto your motherduringthe first

caravan,Wallysaid that he “...hadlearned

that the differencebetweenme is a matter

of guts...Alsothat the priceof successis

eternalvigilance,”and that he wishedhe

couldteachthosethingsto you. Did he?

Howdid they manifestin your life?

Wallyalsodiedtoosoon.Intalkingwithmy

mother,hementionedthathehadvarious

stepsthathewantedtoteachmeaboutlife

andsuccess.Weneverhadthesetalks.Inthe

yearsthatI didspendwithhim,lifelessons

werepassedontomein otherways,primar-

ilybyexample.Youcouldn’t be around him

andnotlearnfromhim.

Wallyfelt that Airstreamwas a way “to pro-

vide a moresatisfying,meaningfulway of

travel that offers complete independence,

Dale can oftenbe foundat Airstreamrallies,

enlighteningfans through his various talks

and Q&Asessions.

Alumanation,a documentaryby Eric Brick-

er, is slatedto be unveiledas soonas this

fall. Dale is prominentlyfeaturedonscreen

as the primaryvoicefor Wally,Helen,and

the caravansin a bodyof workdescribed

by Eric as “an impressionisticlook at the

Airstreamworld,illustratinghow the com-

pany’strailersembodythe spiritof Wally

Byam”and to whatdegreethat spiritlives

on, as keptaliveby current Airstreamers.

aluminationmovie.com

Photo by Rich Luhr

CONNECT WITH DALE

Wanderlust:Airstream

at 75,by RussBan-

ham.Dalecontends

thatthisis oneofthe

mostaccuratebookson

Airstream,andhehimself

offeredinsightand collabora-

tion on the project,as well as reviewedthe

first six chapters prior to publishing.

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