‘American Daredevil’ charts exploits of trailblazing Memphis adventurer

Decades before Anthony Bourdain documented his travels for CNN and long before Paul Theroux traveled by train across China, there was Richard Halliburton.

Though he’s been long since forgotten by some and never known by most, his life and times are well-documented by Cathryn J. Prince in her latest biography, “American Daredevil: The Extraordinary Life of Richard Halliburton, the World’s First Celebrity Travel Writer.”

Prince’s portrait is that of a swashbuckling real life Indiana Jones, who, at the time of his career, had no contemporaries.

He was the first to take aerial photos of Mount Everest. He climbed Mt. Fuji and Mt. Olympus. He swam the Panama Canal and Hellspont. He published his first book — “The Royal Road to Romance” — in 1925.

And yet, through Prince’s equally captivating narrative, we learn that Halliburton was human.

In fact, he was hiding his homosexuality from the world, especially his avid readers, who saw him as a “masculine trailblazer.”

And then, just like that, in 1939, the Memphis native was dead at the age of 35, lost at sea on his last great adventure.

When did you become aware of Richard Halliburton?

Ever since I can remember. I’m 47 and this is family lore. My father was serving in Vietnam — he was there in ’63 — he took one of his leaves that he had to go see the Taj Mahal. The reason for that was, when my dad was growing up he loved Richard Halliburton, so he always told us stories of how, reading the complete book of marvels and then Richard Halliburton’s first book, there was the Taj Mahal. There was something in the way that he wrote about that. That was always a neat family story that I always tucked away.

And what about more recently?

Much later, about 2013, I was working on my last book and it was about the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff, and that was an emotionally draining book to research and report on. It was a dark topic. At the time, my parents took my daughter to Tennessee. They went to Memphis and Nashville, and my mom knew how much my dad always loved Halliburton, and she became aware of the collection at Rhodes College, so they went down and spent the day there.

They looked at the exhibit there and when they came home and were talking to me about it, I thought, this could be something I could explore for my next project. There was something that initially grabbed me. His zest for life and the adventures he did.

So, in some ways, choosing to write this book is like a love letter for your father.

Yes, for my dad and also my mom, who made that second trip happen for him, so she’s always sort of supportive of him. Just for that entire generation who grew up on Halliburton. He influenced so many people. He made them want to get out there and see the world.

He was writing about things no one had ever done before.

Absolutely, and there were people who criticized him. “Oh, he’s just manufacturing these events.” He might have said, “I’ll swim the Panama Canal and it will get me publicity and I can write about it,” but he did it. That really struck me. In Mexico, he climbed the volcano twice … because he didn’t have the proper documentation, so he knew documentation was important. That also impressed me. He’d redo it and make sure it was recorded.

His brother was strong and athletic, and yet he died when they were young. How much of an impact did that have on Richard, who was a sickly kid, to live for both of them?

I think it was huge. Initially I was thinking he was prompted to keep doing this because, socially for him, in the United States, it would get harder and harder as a gay man. I even thought, maybe he has a death wish, which I don’t think at all now. … I think he always wanted to write and travel, but that unending quest — that push forward — is that Richard is only 18 and he knows that, and with World War I it doesn’t matter how old you are, we’re mortal. He understood his mortality … and it changed, in some ways, his relationship with his parents. He felt responsible for them and yet he wanted to still go do what he was doing.

He was complex. He had dashing Hollywood looks that attracted women and was going off on these adventures that captivated kids like your dad, and yet, in reality, he was a gay man in 1920s and 30s?

It would ruin him. It would have been horrendous and that’s why he also, in his books, puts in these flirtations or these women that he seems to meet. In interviews, he talks about where people should go on an ideal honeymoon. … To me, it’s a wonder he doesn’t crack under that pressure.

If you go

What: Author event with Cathryn J. Prince

When: 6 p.m. Sept. 9 

Where: Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike, Suite 14

Admission: free

Details:www.parnassusbooks.net

MOST POPULAR STORIES

Sturgill Simpson’s diatribe forgets the Nashville that nourished his career