Benjamin Jesse Gunn (1865-1939)

From the time he was a young boy, Benjamin Gunn dreamed of traveling west to see the great Pacific Ocean. When he turned twenty-one in 1886, he left his home in Kansas and set off to follow his dream. Ben traveled by train and kept journals and wrote poetry along the way. "A Western Tour" was the first poem he wrote about his journey and describes leaving Kansas and the things he saw out the window of the train. His poem, "The Mighty Ocean" describes his impressions of L.A. and his first sight of the mighty Pacific Ocean. When he returned home to Kansas, he set a goal of visiting every county in every state in the entire United States. He documented his journey and finally realized his goal shortly before his death in 1939. When Ben was on a trip to Mississippi, he met Louise who would become his wife. He settled down with her and had four children. After twenty-five years in the publishing business, he turned over his newspaper to his son, John (age 20) and left to live the rest of his life on the road intent on achieving his goal. He would pass through Kansas and visit his home ocassionally and would always be home during the holidays, but the rest of his time was spent in his solitary adventure.

Ben Gunn was a poet and loved to write in rhyming verse. He wrote biographies of Washington and Lincoln all in rhyming verse and published them as pocket size books. He sold those little pocket size books to finance his travels and support his wife, Louise, who kept the home fires burning in Kansas while he was on his quest. He also published a book called, "The Son of a Gunn" in 1891 which included some of his travel journals, poetry and speeches. It was in this book that I found the inspiration for the songs that became my CD "The Journey."
~ Holly