Somehow, in all the years I was a rock ‘n’ roll critic for either the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune or Music magazine in the 1980s, I never saw Bob Seger live. For the life of me, I can’t explain it. I certainly wanted to see him; he’s one of those guys—like Springsteen, Joel and Mellencamp—who always spoke to me. When I was a freshman at the University of Miami, back in ’78, I worked at the college radio station, WVUM, doing air shifts as a DJ and producing dozens of public service announcements. I almost always chose Seger songs as background music. TOM WESCHLER audio excerpt: "In 1978, Bob Seger was playing four sold-out nights in Pine Knob, Michigan, and Bruce Springsteen came to town and wanted to meet Bob. I set it up and I said to Bob's bodyguard—who I hired back in 1971— 'Do me a favor and keep all the other photographers out of here for 10 minutes, will ya?' And ." And the day I drove away from school at the end of freshman year, back to Jersey, my friend Bob and I only had one 8-track tape to entertain us as we took turns driving non-stop—Live Bullet. That’s why I tracked down as a guest for the show. He was Seger’s road manager—and unofficial tour photographer—for the first decade or so of Seger’s four-decade career and has frequently dropped back in on his old friend’s career at key moments. Now—with the help of writer Gary Graff—Weschler has produced Travelin’ Man, a coffee table book of photos and memories that no Seger fan will want to live without. Tom Weschler • •