On the 50th anniversary of a legendary book, a group of acolytes follow in its author’s footsteps
By Fischer Genau DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
On July 7, 2024, over 20 people descended upon the Minneapolis Zen Meditation Center in Minnesota. They came from all over the country, and most of them had never met in person, but they had one thing in common: a deep affinity for a certain book.
“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” was published 50 years ago by Robert M. Pirsig, a writer and philosopher who taught creative writing for two years at Montana State University, and it quickly amassed a following. The book is hard to describe—part travelog, part philosophical text, Pirsig’s meandering chautauqua (philosophical discussion) on quality can be confounding to some. But for others, like those congregated at the Minneapolis Zen Meditation Center, it resonates deeply. The book is considered a significant contribution to independent thinking and quality in thought, and half a century after its publication, it’s still changing lives.
The Minneapolis visitors had been so touched by “Zen” that they were about to follow in its author’s footsteps, riding 2,814 miles and 17 days across the country on motorcycles—with some driving along in cars—from Minneapolis, Minnesota to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Pirsig made that journey on his ‘66 Honda Super Hawk motorcycle—which now hangs in the Smithsonian—with his 12-year-old son Chris in 1968, and the group, who call themselves “Pirsig Pilgrims,” would try to follow his route exactly. But Pirsig’s road was quite different from their own.
“There’s an important difference between what they did and what we did,” David Matos, who helped plan the trip, told Explore Big Sky. “They were following their noses. We were following a set route, so it was more of a pilgrimage kind of experience.”
Matos’ group was occasionally turned back by rutted, potholed roads and gates barring their way that had been erected across old routes Pirsig had traveled. On the road, the pilgrims were exposed to the elements, and being the middle of summer, it was often very hot. By the time they reached Laurel, Montana, it was a sweltering 108 degrees, but from there the pilgrims climbed the Beartooth Highway up into the mountain range to find snow lining their path and spectacular views of its bristling peaks and sweeping valleys.
“Seeing America on a cross-country trip, almost from coast to coast, you definitely get an appreciation for the grandeur of the country and the beauty of the land and the sense of place in the different places that we went to,” Matos said.
Matos is a member of the Robert Pirsig Association, and the RPA arranged the trip and brought together a hodgepodge of people through an online community whose only connection was their love for the book. Though most of them were strangers when the trip began on July 8—the same date Pirsig set out in 1968—the motley crew became fast friends.
“We worked together well and we liked each other’s company, and that really showed through,” Matos said. “Everybody had a really deep understanding of the book, and everybody came at it with a little bit of a different perspective from their own life history and their own ideas.”
On the trip, the pilgrims got to see things from Pirsig’s perspective. They saw what he saw, felt what he felt, and several of them even had to do their own motorcycle maintenance along the way. But when Pirsig took that first ride, he wasn’t thinking about how it would be considered half a century later, while many of the pilgrims traveled with a copy of his book tucked in their belongings, and they had the opportunity to reflect on Pirsig’s journey.
A highlight for Matos and many other pilgrims was their stay in Bozeman, where they visited Montana State University and the Museum of the Rockies’ Pirsig collections. Mel Pomeroy, the Curator at the MSU Library, arranged a tour for the group, showing them old materials like Pirsig’s briefcase and a copy of his original manuscript, which was rejected by 121 publishing houses before William Morrow picked it up.
The MSU library receives a number of Pirsig pilgrims every year, many who come looking for his old office or university lodging, but the library saw an increase in visitors this summer due to the 50th anniversary.
“A group like the Pirsig pilgrims who care really deeply about Pirsig and ‘Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,’ the deep, deep engagement is there,” said Jodi Allison-Bunnell, head of archives and special collections at the MSU library. “We didn’t talk at them much. We wanted to hear from them what they were, what brought them here, what interested them, and then let them explore the collections. We just had the best time having them.”
After picking through his paraphernalia to learn more about the man behind the manuscript, many of the pilgrims convened in nearby Cottonwood Canyon at the home of the DeWeeses. Pirsig had been close friends with Robert and Gennie DeWeese, and their daughter Tina communed with the pilgrims on the DeWeese porch where Pirsig had done the same with Tina’s parents all those years ago.
“They had their memories and their impressions, but they also had questions about the book,” Matos said. “They were interested in learning from the Pirsig pilgrims that were visiting, and of course we were interested in them.”
After examining some of Pirsig’s own artifacts and enjoying Tina’s hospitality at one of his old haunts, the journey was far from over. Another 1,600 miles lay between them and the Golden Gate Bridge, and the long days of travel wore on the pilgrims.
“I was driving, and it was grueling just driving it,” Matos said. “I can only imagine what it was like going up and down all those curvy mountain roads on a motorcycle. But I’m sure it was enjoyable too.”
Despite the endurance required for such a cross-country road trip, spirits never waned. Pirsig himself wrote, “Physical discomfort is important only when the mood is wrong… But if the mood is right, then physical discomfort doesn’t mean much.” And so it was with the pilgrims.
The mood was right for much of the trip, and despite several members of the crew falling ill with COVID, forcing them to cut their journey short, everyone considered the ride a great success.
After crossing the Bitterroots into Idaho, stopping in Grants Pass, Oregon to visit the old shop of welder Sandy McGregor—who’s featured in the book—and shooting south down the coast, Matos and Henry Gurr, another RPA member who was the trip’s architect, arrived in San Francisco on July 19. They crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, which Matos described as “almost the goal post for finishing the trip.”
“It was definitely this amazing voyage to go on,” Matos said. “We were able to relate it to this work of literature and deepen our understanding and appreciation of the book, while the book also gave us an appreciation of the places that they went to.”
The trip had its bumps, but everyone returned home safely and Matos was satisfied that they achieved their goal.
“It was a demanding trip, don’t get me wrong, but we actually achieved it,” Matos said. “We did something that we set out to do.”
But it wasn’t the end of the road just yet. Matos had to drive another 40 hours back to his home in Aiken, South Carolina. And the trip’s effects are still reverberating in all the pilgrims’ lives. Matos said it took some time to adjust to normal life, and some of the pilgrims are talking about doing another trip next year.
“They had all found this incredible community,” said Jodi Allison-Bunnell from the MSU Library. “Whether that is a long-term or even permanent community for them, or if it was just the experience of a lifetime one July.”
“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” is one of the best-selling philosophy books of all time, and will likely continue to inspire successive generations of pilgrims in the future.
