Additional information
by Gordon Schwerzmann (Author)
"Soldier to Sojourner: The Journal" is my impression of North Asia in the 1970s. I spent over a year as an officer in the U.S. Army in South Korea
and close to two years traveling throughout Asia, first as a backpacker and later as a Hippie (yippee-ki-yay).
This Journal is a companion piece to my photographic book, surprisingly also called "Soldier to Sojourner: The Photographs" (Two books for the price of two books. Such a deal!)
I have documented a time, the 1970s, before the all-pervading Western
culture (sex, drugs, and rock and roll in Levi's) and The Economic Miracle changed Asia irrevocably.
The book is written from a soldier (At Ease) and traveler (Sojourner for Stupids) viewpoint.
Each day in my journey brought new enchantments, incredible beauty, sordid ugliness, joy, and suffering that I tried to capture in words.
The Asia of Conrad and Maughan is gone, and the war-torn Asia of Vietnam will also pass.
This is my vision of Asia, a bright shining light from a galaxy far far away that has already disappeared.
