Author/Photographer of 15 books including James Dean Died Here, Roadside Baseball and Led Zeppelin Crashed Here (as well of all of the photos in this collection)

 

Full author bio

 

Chris Epting

Author, Photographer, Pop Culture Historian

National Spokesman, Hampton Inn’s Hidden Landmarks

 

A pop culture history aficionado, Chris has a lifelong penchant for documenting the exact sites where things both great and small occurred. As an author, Epting has found that unearthing and chronicling ‘hidden’ locations offers him a challenge. What began as an inquisitive hobby soon developed into the writing and photographing of 14 books based on his discoveries, including James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Images of America – the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Roadside Baseball, The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Artifacts and Led Zeppelin Crashed Here.

 

As an extension of his efforts to chronicle the unique, Epting joins Hampton Hotels for a fourth exciting year as national spokesperson and consultant for the Hidden Landmarks program in support of the brand’s national “Explore the Highway with Hampton Save-A-Landmark™” campaign (the program recently won the President’s award). He was also recently national spokesman for the launch of Microsoft Windows Live Local travel web site and is the current spokesman for EMusic.com, an online music download company.

 

Chris is a frequent featured guest on numerous radio and television programs such as National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” “The Savvy Traveler,” “Access Hollywood” and FOX TV’s the “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” plus international programs in Australia, Japan and the U.K.

 

He has contributed articles for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Westways, Travel + Leisure and Preservation magazine, and was the Travel Editor for Chicken Soup for the Soul Magazine. He also writes and voices a series for Major League Baseball Radio, and writes a weekly column for the Huntington Beach Independent newspaper and a monthly feature in Orange Coast magazine. Chris hosts The Pop Culture Road Trip radio show on webtalkradio.net and his 14th book, “The Birthplace Book,” comes out in Spring ‘09.

 

Chris lives in Huntington Beach, CA with his wife and their two children.

 

Bibliography

 

•Led Zeppelin Crashed Here… The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North America (Santa Monica Press, May 2007)

•The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Artifacts (Santa Monica Press, March 2006)

•Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks (Santa Monica Press, May 2005)

•Marilyn Monroe Dyed Here, More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks (Santa Monica Press, May 2004)

•Roadside Baseball, Uncovering Hidden Treasures From Our National Pastime (The Sporting News/McGraw Hill; May 2003)

•James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks (Santa Monica Press; April 2003)

•Images of America: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Arcadia Publishing, 2002)

•Images of America: Huntington Beach California (Arcadia Publishing, 2001)

• Huntington Beach Then/Now (Arcadia Publishing, 2008)

•Images of America: Vanishing Orange County (Arcadia Publishing, 2008)

•Images of America: Postcards of Huntington Beach California (Arcadia Publishing, 2009)

•Images of America: The Early Polo Grounds (Arcadia Publishing, 2009)

•The Birthplace Book (Stackpole Publishing, 2009)

 

Praise for Epting’s Books

James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks

 

"James Dean Died Here is an addictively irresistible tour through pop culture past and present."

- Chicago Tribune

 

"The whereabouts of 600-plus places that have helped shape national identity, from the momentous (site of the world’s first A-bomb explosion) to the ridiculous (where Zsa Zsa slapped that hunky Beverly Hills cop)."

- USA Today

 

"The intersection where Dean died, the site of the Hindenburg explosion, the subway grating where Marilyn Monroe's white dress flew heavenward - c'mon, you never know when you're going to need this stuff! Playful, informative, useful."

- Philadelphia Inquirer

 

"Chris Epting has written a guidebook to a broad range of historic and often hysterical American landmarks - more than 700 in all. James Dean Died Here includes the spot where the young movie icon perished in a car accident, the location of the Brady Bunch house, and the hangar where the final scene of Casablanca may have been shot."

- National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered"

     

Roadside Baseball, Uncovering Hidden Treasures From Our National Pastime

  

"What a wonderful book. All the 'stations of the cross' of our national pastime are here, big and small, telling and frivolous. I can imagine this book in the glove compartment of every true fan's car, a handy reference to this beloved game no matter where in the country you are."

- Ken Burns, baseball historian and filmmaker

 

"For the fan, this is the ultimate road trip. Chris Epting is the perfect traveling secretary to lead you to all these great baseball stops."

- Joe Garagiola

 

"Los Angeles-based writer Chris Epting has delivered a stand-up triple (baseball's most exciting play) in Roadside Baseball: Uncovering Hidden Treasures From Our National Pastime."

- Chicago Tribune