F.T. Burke is a lifelong resident of the state of Michigan, where he now lives with his wife, Lorie. He previously enjoyed a prior career in the high-tech sector, serving as a systems engineer and project manager. His debut novel “The Bohemian Adventure” traces the main character’s self-enlightenment journey while traveling with devoted deadheads who followed the psychedelic rock group, the Grateful Dead. In this latest novel “Wanderer: The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey” he fictionalizes and is inspired by true adventures in the life of Steve Reifman, co-author. (Ascot Media Group, 2019)

Steven W. Reifman is a practicing lawyer and businessman. He took a journey similar in time and place to that of Wanderer’s main character, Woodstock. Steve was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and has three children, two grandchildren and an enduring, love-filled marriage of over 40 years.

In “Wanderer: The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey,” during the chaotic latter days of the Vietnam War and after the protest march on Washington, D.C., many American youth asserted their rebellious freedom by doing drugs, having sex, sleeping outside and backpacking through Europe, North Africa and Asia. Still living at home was Steve, a young man coming of age, just out of college, with no clear future and unable to pay rent. Envious of the free-spirited revelers, Steve, who adopted the nickname “Woodstock” after attending the music festival in New York, joined the throngs of intrepid youth to wander the world and search for his soul.

This enchanting novel follows Woodstock’s year-long journey to scratch his nomadic itch. Upon beating the draft, Woodstock crosses the Atlantic to the Old World, without any particular itinerary, no set time to return home and not much money. He finds God everywhere no matter how hard he tries to hide and look away. His spontaneous, free-wheeling adventures of raucous, hilarious incidents all weigh heavy against the need to come home and grow up.

Wanderer will appeal to the wanderlust in the souls of hippies young and old. A fast read with a lot of laughs, the story was inspired by the true adventures of the co-author. Come along for this unforgettable adventure of a lifetime.

“Wanderer:  The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey” by F.T. Burke and Steve Reifman
Purple Whale Publishing
ISBN: 9781733624640 (softcover)
ISBN: 9781733624657 (EPUB)
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online book retailers