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| Map of Travels |
| Picture this Stubby Davis By THOMAS E. FRANKLIN The Record Stu Davis has been following his dreams to the max all his life. Now he's following them along the yellow lines. Davis, an award-winning former photojournalist for The Record and other North Jersey newspapers, was well known for his innovation, creativity and insatiable sense of adventure. When 35mm was coming into vogue, Stubby - as he is affectionately known - was the first to work in the small format. When small high-speed lighting kits came on the market, Stub had already mastered them and was teaching everybody else. And when it came to adventure, he was on the cutting edge - sky-diving from high altitudes, piloting small planes and helicopters, even living on a sailboat for 10 years. So, none of his friends was surprised when Stubby began touring the country almost non-stop on his bright yellow "hack" - a motorcycle with a sidecar - a few years ago. It was just Stub being Stub, and everyone was envious. Now, at 75 years young, he has written a book about his experiences. "Following the Yellow Lines" is a self-published collection of his monthly e-mails from the road to his buddies. "I'm a storyteller, metaphysical stuff," he says. Stubby was in town recently, catching up with old friends, and following the yellow lines through Jersey and on up to Vermont and back. He started as a Record photographer in 1953. By 1972, the photo biz had changed, and so did Davis. He left the paper and bought into a bicycle shop in Park Ridge, eventually moving on to a slew of other jobs and adventures. In 2003, a few years after his wife passed away from cancer, he bought the motorcycle and took out a map and just started riding. It's been more than 80,000 miles. His 2003 Honda Gold Wing with a Hannigan sidecar is bright yellow, and a real attention grabber. "Sunshine," he calls it, after an encounter with a woman at a rest stop who inquired where he and "Sunshine" were heading next. Davis says that bathroom breaks often turn into two-hour affairs, as strangers stop and chat, pose for photos and make friends. "The bike is there. It's important," says Stub. "You're whipping through turns. It's like flying high, but it's about who's over the next hill. What's there?" That's what gets him excited. It's the new things to see and people to meet. He says he meets new people all the time, and it's usually the bike that gets people's attention. All these experiences are represented in "Following the Yellow Lines," a travel book, he calls it. "Although it's seeing through my eyes. Like ['Blue Highways' by William Least] Heat-Moon. It takes people places they haven't been." And to many of his old friends, that is what Davis is about as much as anything, taking people places, whether it's through his book or through his friendships. Pete Monsees, a highly accomplished Record photographer, credits much of his success to Davis. A student of his at Fairleigh Dickinson University back in the Seventies, Monsees says that the course and Davis' magnetic personality changed his career path from English to photography. "He's touched so many lives, influenced so many people," says Monsees, after seeing his mentor recently for the first time in years. "Everyone wanted to be like him. He's why I'm doing what I'm doing today." |
| FOLLOW THE YELLOW LINE Motorcycle Touring with Stuart Davis and His Side Car www.followtheyellowline.com |