Here Is A WebVersion the Text & Photos of Henry Gurr's Talk Given To The First Ever MOQ Conference. University Of Liverpool, Liverpool, England, UK, Thursday 7 July 2005.

This webpage is a "self-tour" web version adapted from my presentation given at the MOQ Conference. In this somewhat improved version, you will have to read and do mouse clicks for yourself. (At the conference, the audience leaned back and relaxed while Ian Glendinning read aloud the words and Paul Turner clicked the computer mouse.)

Talk Summary:

In the Summer of 2002, I followed the route of travel described in the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM), by Robert Pirsig (1975). I did my best to research and photograph all the places ZMM Narrator reports seeing as he traveled from Minneapolis to San Francisco. My rather modest effort just to photograph the "Sights and Scenes" of "ZMM gradually morphed into a "field check-up" of the factual accuracy of the ZMM Narrative. In actual fact, the closer I looked for the physical evidence, the more and more the "ZMM Travel Narrative stood to factual test! Mr. Pirsig's book, detail after detail, to use his own words, held to Good old reality. I was amazed!! It is a great tribute to Mr. Pirsig as author that this much detail is weaved into ZMM Travel Narrative!

I did not expect to find this! Nor did many ZMM critics! They and I doubted the "total reality" of the ZMM scenery and places. Moreover, my own initial doubt resulted in my failure to find many ZMM locations. If I taken Pirsig's words as literal fact from the "get-go", I would have found many ZMM locations 'much, much, faster'!!

In this MOQ talk I: 1) say "Hello" to the MOQ Conference audience, 2) give an introduction to myself, and then 3) Show some of the more outstanding examples of Mr. Pirsig's factual precision. As you will see this webpage thus will be a good introduction to the remainder of my 800 ZMM Route Photos, displayed elsewhere on this site.

Henry Gurr,
Professor of Physics at University of South Carolina,
Aiken South Carolina, USA.

Hello & Letter Of Greeting To the MOQ Audience.

Greetings to MOQ Enthusiasts!!

And Congratulations to Dr. Anthony McWatt on receipt of his well earned PhD!!
I am disappointed not to be with you-all today, but thanks to Ian Glendinnings' reading of my words, I can be with you in spirit.

I would address you as "Pirsig Pilgrims", but that is an "advanced degree" that has to be earned in a special school. Let me explain. Mr. Pirsig, in a June 2001 letter, discussing how he no longer desired to travel the West & the ZMM Route, added the following comment: "I have heard from Bozeman that there has been a steady trickle of what they call Pirsig Pilgrims who come through every summer following that route".

The term "Pirsig Pilgrim" raised my interest. Google, always found things I needed to know, but this time no leads on the term "Pirsig Pilgrim". So when I got to Bozeman on my research trip, I started asking if people had heard of it. The four Montana State University English Professors I interviewed, knew much history re Mr. Pirsig, but were completely un aware of the term "Pirsig Pilgrims". In fact they had no awareness of hardly any visitors to their campus, inquiring about Mr. Pirsig or his book.

Of course, while I was in Bozeman, I also interviewed Gennie DeWeese. Very early in the interview, she said that I reminded her of those one or two persons per year, who call her up, and ask to come see her: I asked her if she had invented the term "Pirsig Pilgrim". I had to practically pry it out of her. Finally, she modestly and very quietly and a wisp of a smile, admitted, "Yes ..... I'm the one".

ZMM Travelers who get to Bozeman, of course, want to see Mrs. DeWeese famous home and share discussions of Pirsig & ZMM. Her phone number is in the Bozeman phone directory and she clearly enjoys sharing her home and what she knows .... even with complete strangers!!! Mrs. DeWeese has apparently has done this for many years! Mrs. DeWeese is now quite elderly, and typically one of her two grown daughters will participate in the fun of the discussions. She says that without exception they (these "Zen visitors") are a good bunch of people! So, "y-all" pat yourself on the back, you are among good company!!

Thus it is, .... the Advanced Degree "Pirsig Pilgrim" ….. comes from Mrs. DeWeese herself, and your next educational challenge is to travel the entire ZMM Route yourself. That's when you earn the right to call yourself a "Pirsig Pilgrim"!

Now Lets Look At How ZMM Incorporates "The Factual" Into Its Travel Descriptions.

Instructions for Web Self-Tour:

For each of the following items, read the words and then click the associated link. After you have studied the photo and caption, close the "frame" you are looking at, and you will be automatically back to this document, so you may read the next item. NOTE: DO NOT GET DETOURED! Please always come back to this page so you will finish the tour.

A) Who Is Henry Gurr?

Click on link to view his picture. After this comes up, click at right of photo to see Dr. Gurr's home webpage where you can read his bio. (Close browser when ready to return to this page.)
http://www.usca.edu/math/%7Emathdept/hsg/chart.html

B) The Aeolian Harp Is One of Henry Gurr's Pet Projects.

The Aeolian Harp was inspired by British author, poet, philosopher, and linguist Owen Barfield, who wrote an article called The Harp and the Camera. You may click on either of the photos that come up when you click on the link. (Close browser when ready to return to this page.)
http://www.usca.edu/math/~mathdept/hsg/aeolian.html ...

(A note concerning previous Aeolian Harp Photos: Mr. Barfield's article The Harp and the Camera inspired the creation, on my campus a Camera Obscura in addition to the Aeolian Harp you just saw. As Mr Barfield points out, the Aeolian Harp and the Camera Obscura were major stages of historical/literary development of our modern consciousness. Mr. Barfield's books will considerably extend MOQ'ers understanding of ZMM and Lila. I highly recommends them. Dr. McWatt and Ian Glendinning can vouch for the MOQ usefulness of Barfield's books.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Barfield
http://davidlavery.net/Barfield/

Now Lets Look At How Mr. Pirsig Incorporates "The Factual" Into the ZMM Travel Descriptions:

Practically every ZMM page has an example, but I will narrow it down to three examples:
C) Arrival at a town. D) Events at a Hotel and E) Experiences in the High Country. I will use the photos from my WebSite to illustrate these examples. (I must narrow it down just like Phaedrus told his writing student to vastly simplfy: "Narrow it down to the front of one building on the Main Street of Bozeman. The Opera House. Start with the upper left-hand brick."!) http://www.design.caltech.edu/Misc/pirsig.html

C) The Town Of Three Forks Montana Acutally Exists, Just Where the Narrator Says It Is! We Also Note Pirsig's Meaphorical Use of This Town's Name.

Most Obvious Examples Of Accuracy is that the Series of towns mentioned in ZMM are all there, as is the case for Three forks! And often the name of the town is used to metaphorically support the current lecture Chautauqua. Here I have also chosen to show you the town of Three Forks, because it is a rather nice "Metaphoric-Bridge-Connection", between the Narrator's Chautauqua (lecture) and the Travel Description. This is Mr. Pirsig's stock-in-trade in both ZMM and Lila. (In many of my photo explanations I mention these connections,) At first, I was slow to catch on to these ”Metaphoric Bridge-Connections". It took me about 4 readings of ZMM, before I finally said "Hey, what is Pirsig doing here?" I started to watch for these "Connections", and was amazed to note, that at every abrupt switch between Chautauqua and the Travel Description, the "Metaphoric-Bridge-Connections" were always there! (Close browser when you are finished with this photo.)
http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/album08/109_0921c

D) The Narrator Tells Us Very Accurately About Their Hotel In The Town Of Laurel, Montana. (Six Photos.)

Study the photo and the captions for this and next 5 photos. Just as the Narrator tells us, you will see the communal wash room at the back end of, a long hallway, with creaky wood floor, window by the wash room, and second level porch. (Close browser when you are finished with all six photos.)
http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/album07/res57319

E) ZMM Narrator's Factual Experiences in the Montana Mountainous High Country Are the My Final Examples. (Six Photos.).

As you read the ZMM passages in italics that go with these photos, study how the Narrator gives us a full, realistic, and enthusiastic description of what he calls the "High Country". You should especially note how these descriptions closely track the scenery as follows: Stunted trees; details of a roadside rest area and look out point, then no trees, just grass; then grass and flowers and lichens; they go into the first snow field, then between banks of snow, back to grass, flowers, mud, melt-water. Then a second heavy snowfield, and finally the highest twin walled tunnel of snow, As described, the travelers are at actually at the factual "summit", where they encounter a second rest area and then they are on their way back down to lower elevations. (You may go 18 photos to photo labeled Summer2006 0092 at bottom left. Or alternatively lose browser when you are finished with 9 photos.)
http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/album07/106_0624_IMG

Additional notes to help appreciate the degree of accuracy of author Pirsig.

On photos you just finished viewing:
On several of these photos I placed clickable links on the waypoint number (lower right). One of these links to a Topo Map of the landscape of the photo. This map shows what is not evident from either the ZMM Narrative or my photos: The highway, between the two snow fields, runs along a south facing slope which has sun warmth for the flowers. And then goes through a low area (10736 feet) which of course would have melt water channels. This accounts for the flowers and small streams immediately prior to the "tunnel of snow" mentioned on ZMM. This topo map also confirms that the Narrator's "Summit" is indeed the factual highest of his travel over what is called Beartooth Pass. Here the highway maxes-out at a “bench mark”(BM = 10947 feet), 'just nine feet higher than the previous highway maximum encountered just after the first snowfield. Link to photo that has the clickable waypoint number mentioned above:
http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/album07/106_0626cz1_9

Summary:

You have seen just a few of the more interesting examples of the factual accuracy of ZMM. Practically every one of my 833 ZMM Route Sights and Scenes Photos on my WebSite, will reveal more this Factual Narrative Accuracy. I hope you will the near future study my photos and further explore this topic of Mr. Pirsig's landscape accuracy. Please go to the Second Album at.
http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/

But All This Still Begs a Few Questions: How (& Why) Is ZMM So Accurate?..

1) How did Mr. Pirsig keep all this 'accuracy' in mind?
2) Did he take notes during the time of his travel in 1968?
3) How much information was obtained from maps?
4) Or were there a great number of photographs, so most ZMM travel details were extracted from the photos?
5) Is this why we see so much correspondence with practically every one of his 12 photos we already have?
6) Or was his writing of ZMM all from memory?
7) Beyond this, why was the ZMM authoring Travel narrative held to such strict accuracy?
8) Finally: Why would Mr. Pirsig include so much specific travel detail in ZMM? And especially so, when we consider that the ZMM Travel Narratives are not te most important parts of ZMMt? In other words: Why such travel accuracy, when the ZMM central focus is the Chautauqua Lectures propounding the Meta-physics of Quality?

I can think of six imperatives for accuracy. Because Time does not permit, they are presented in my MOQ Confrence "hand-out" available at http://www.robertpirsig.org/Gurr.htm

Closing.

My research concerning Mr. Pirsig's Travel Narrative demonstrates that he did achieve his own stated criterion; He held his book to "Good old reality."

To quote Professor Robert Nelson "[ZMM's] plot remain consistently responsible to the topography of the physical landscape through which the protagonist moves ".

Yes indeed, "Good old reality." frames our very existance.

Contact Me = Prof Henry Gurr.		My Text Pages. Powered By PmWiki 2.2.0 beta 34, GroupsUsed.
Legal & Copyright.		My Photo Gallery Click For All Nine Albums. Powered by Gallery.

Wiki Stuff