Frederick Haefele
Frederick Haefele (CAS’68) of Missoula, Mont., published The Essential Book of Pickup Trucks (Bison Books, 2025), a memoir about the complex role these powerful roadsters have played in his life and American culture. Fred grew up in Flint, Mich., near the General Motors truck plant, and has been drawn to the vehicles since he was a boy. In his adult life—as an arborist, a teacher, and a father—pickups bore him “through hard times and disaster, high adventure, triumph, and love,” he writes. Fred is the author of the motorcycle memoir Rebuilding the Indian (Bison Books, 2005) and the nonfiction essay collection Extremophilia (Bangtail Press, 2011). His work has been featured in Outside, Wired, the New York Times Magazine, Salon, and Montana Magazine. He has also written documentaries for the PBS series American Experience. He lives with his wife, Caroline Patterson.
From the Summer 2025 issue.