A great writer can find a great story anywhere – even hidden behind the green mile marker signs that point to journeys taken long ago, dotting the long stretches of highway that many of us may pass without a second thought.

For anyone who has traveled from Chicago to St. Louis, you know that the I-55 could be described very simply as rather flat and uneventful. The goal of our own SJC team member LuAnn Cadden and Dr. Ted Cable is to change that perception with their new book, “Traveling through Illinois: Stories of I-55 Landmarks & Landscapes between Chicago & St. Louis.”

LuAnn moved to St. Joseph in 1996, but previously spent a number of years traveling on the I-55 Highway. Having a natural interest in landscapes, cultural history, tourism and stories about the way things used to be led her to ponder about the oddities along the way.

Today, the result of her questions about this stretch of highway is now your opportunity to learn about why Steven Spielberg visited Waggoner, Illinois. You will get the story behind the St. Paul Lutheran’s neon cross, and so many other interesting things that happened in the towns you pass as you’re cruising to your next destination.

Don’t travel on I-55 very often? Don’t worry – LuAnn and Dr. Cable bring their creative energy and curiosity to life in another book about I-70, “Driving across Missouri: A Guide to I-70.” Written in 2010, they made stories of Native Americans, French explorers, and German settlers come to life. You’ll never see this stretch of road the same way again. The book has been featured in the Denver Post, the Walt Bodine Show and on National Public Radio, among other sources.

About LuAnn Cadden:  LuAnn has been sharing her insights and writing talent with the SJC team for nearly three years, and we are proud to have her as a member of our team. Before coming to our team, she worked as a professional naturalist for the Missouri Department of Conservation where she wrote magazine and research journal articles, as well as interpretive trail guides, and several other duties related to giving people new insights about the world around them. This provided some of the inspiration to work on the two books she and Cable published. She is also active in the historic Lovers Lane Neighborhood Association and as a school volunteer and a dedicated (and often-requested) substitute teacher.

LuAnn and Dr. Cable hope that can take a little time to enjoy these stories while you’re driving from Chicago to St. Louis, or from St. Louis to Kansas City. On a deeper level, our team at Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions appreciates and honors this belief that in everything is a story — and that being curious leads to some pretty amazing discoveries.