The Long Journey

As an obituary writer for the New York Times, Bruce Weber contemplates mortality more than most. For example, in 1993, at the age of 39, he packed his saddlebags and rode his bike across the United States as a way to salute his youth and pedal into middle age. He...

By Kyle Harris

March 20, 2014

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

As an obituary writer for the New York Times, Bruce Weber contemplates mortality more than most. For example, in 1993, at the age of 39, he packed his saddlebags and rode his bike across the United States as a way to salute his youth and pedal into middle age. He thought it would be the last time he physically could. In 2011, as he neared sixty, Weber reconsidered: What better way to bookend middle age than to take the ride again? Using the journey as an opportunity to reflect on growing older, he wrote his memoir, Life Is a Wheel: Love, Death, Etc., and a Bike Ride Across America.

“I’m up front in the book that the solo journey across the country is a metaphor for the solo journey that we all take through life,” Weber says. “Facing mortality is something that we all end up doing. We have to do it according to the methods that our lives describe for us. We have to do it alone. If there is a consolation in that, it’s that everybody else is doing the same thing.”

Tonight, Weber will discuss and sign Life Is a Wheel at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover, 2526 East Colfax Avenue. For more information, go to tatteredcover.com or call 303-322-7727.
Tue., March 25, 7:30 p.m., 2014

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.

Kyle Harris has been Westword’s Culture Editor since 2016, writing about the arts, music and film.

Contact: Kyle Harris

Follow:

Twitter: @kyle_a_harris

The Long Journey

Newsletter Sign Up

Enter your name, zip code, and email

Sign up for our newsletters

Trending

Arts & Culture News

Meow Wolf Announces Layoffs, Expense Cuts

Film & TV

Married at First Sight Recap: Emily and Brennan Accuse Each Other of Cheating During Marriage

Film & TV

Married at First Sight Recap: Couples Reveal They Faked Storylines, Plotted Everything Behind the Scenes

Arts & Culture News

Adam Cayton-Holland Reflects on Twenty Years of Comedy Ahead of His Anniversary Show