Libby’s Ron Adamson pens first book

Chain saw carver and sculptor Ron Adamson is now a published author.

The Libby native and resident has written “The Road to Winslow - The Making of the Easy Statue.”

The 153-page book covers his trip as a 16-year-old with grandfather Ole Wilhelm Seelbach to their homeland of the Nordic region of Europe to the making of “Easy” and the support of the community in Winslow, Arizona.

Adamson will be at Cabinet Mountain Brewing Co. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday night to sell and sign copies of the book.

He will  also raffle off a limited edition numbered and signed wall plaque of his statue Easy, a $200 value.  

“Hopefully it will be my first and not my last,” Adamson said with a chuckle last week in an interview last week with The Western News.

His bronze statue, ‘Easy,’ has graced a corner on the famed Route 66 in Winslow, Arizona, for a quarter of a century.

As word of his prowess spread as a carver and sculptor, members of a local committee contacted Adamson to see if he would create a sculpture. 'Easy' was the result and it has graced the corner where “Standin’ on the Corner Park” was eventually built.

“The internet and social media really helped generate a great deal of interest in the work I was doing back in the ‘90s.

On his webpage, ronadamson.com, Adamson explained how the term, “Information Super Highway,” piqued his interest.

“Dr. Anthony Pages was behind the first internet provider in Libby. He was instrumental in developing “Kootenet.”

Adamson’s cousin, Rocky Seelbach, who was in the Navy, had returned from Guam. His background in the service was telecommunication and he developed “Techline” in Aberdeen, Washington, the towns’ first internet provider. 

“Rocky showed me the potential of the World Wide Web at his home in Spokane,” Adamson explained. “With the help of Kootenet, I soon learned how to created my own web page. It appeared that I introduced the first web page in North America offering art work for sale. 

In June 1996, Adamson’s website was born and email became his newest promotional tool. 

About two years later, Adamson received an email from Glenn and Yvonne Howeth. They were from Winslow, Arizona, and the “Easy” statue was born.

“Where the statue was placed, it was kind of a run down part of town back then, but now, it’s a focal point,” Adamson said.

The Kaufman family, pioneers who helped settle the Winslow area, donated the property where the park is located.

'Easy,' portrays a man holding a guitar, its base propped on the performer's boot. It ended up becoming a symbol of the famous Eagles 1972 song, “Take it Easy.”

In his new book, Adamson details hearing the song for the first time on the car radio as he, Ole and his parents, Ronald Adams Sr. and Ruth Adams, drove to Cranbrook, Canada to catch a plane on their way to Norway.

Adamson still spends time in Winslow, Arizona for the 'Standin on a Corner' festival in September. When he meets people from all over the world, many are surprised.

"The statue has brought people from all over the globe, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America," he said in a previous interview. "Sometimes I meet the travelers and they can't believe they are meeting the sculptor, so it's enjoyable to see the effect it has had on people for nearly a quarter century."

Readers will also get to hear the long and winding road to the making of the statue and Adamson’s unforgettable experiences.

“I had a vehicle get shot up, dealt with an accident and there was nothing easy about making the sculpture, there were a lot of things that happened to me on the road,” Adamson said.