Chasing Zorba

In 1972, after graduating from college, Jerry Steimel set out on a cross-country road trip in a 1966 VW Beetle he called Zorba — named after the literary figure, Zorba the Greek. In Zorba, the author Nikos Kazantzakis had created an image and a philosophy about life that inspired him. Zorba's commitment to grasping tightly to the present and living life without fear was something Steimel strived to adopt. On his road trip in 1972 Steimel aimed to explore America's back roads—the country sharply divided over the war in Vietnam—and break away from his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Along the way, he sought to gain a deeper understanding of himself and the path his life would take. His goal: get to California and see what he could learn along the way. However, the Beetle he chose for the journey suffered mechanical failure on the first day in a small town in Alabama, only 300 miles from the journey's starting point. Resisting a return to his hometown, Steimel attempted to sustain hi