- This week, we welcome a new contributor
to our statewide news magazine program.
Michael Perry lives in rural Eau Claire County
and is a popular author.
His newest book is
"Coop: a Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting."
Perry has been all over the country on a national book tour.
But Wisconsin Public Television viewers can say they knew
Michael Perry first.
His humorous video essays have appeared on our sister program,
"Hare and Now" for the past six years.
This week we debut Perry's first video essay for "In Wisconsin."
A recovering farm boy,
he has a fondness for trucks and tractors
and as you're about to see,
Perry reached the epicenter of that intrigue
last summer in Madison.
- How are you doing?
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning,
3-1/2 hours south of my chicken coop
and I looked out my hotel room window
and there on the horizon, I saw a beautiful sight.
♪ ♪
This is my favorite version
of the International Harvester logo.
I don't know if I want to touch it.
We got little peanut tractors
and great big, ol' honking tractors.
We're down here in Madison, Wisconsin
for the International Harvester Red Power Roundup.
This is the biggest collection of red paint
you're going to find in the entire United States of America.
It's a long haul from a horse-drawn reaper in 1831
to this in 2009.
[airplane overhead]
This is a farm boy's dream come true here.
You know what would be really terrific is if someone would
take all these beautiful old tractors,
find a bunch old International pickup trucks,
and have themselves a parade.
- Did anyone bring a tow strap with them?
[no response]
Good, because that means nobody will break down.
[laughter]
- When you're offered the opportunity to be the marshall
of the International Harvester Red Power Parade,
there's really only one answer.
And away we go.
Follow that tractor.
This isn't just a parade.
This is a pilgrimage.
We got folks from all over the U.S.
who come to this event.
If you like red paint, this is your day of worship.
Sometimes you're in the parade
and sometimes you're in the parade.
- What happened? - I think we ran out of gas.
- Oh.
- If you like red paint, today is your day.
Listen to that exhaust cap rattle.
Sometimes a fella needs a little help, a little crank.
All red all the time.
I should mention that I do have friends who have
a fondness for agricultural equipment of another color.
But today is our day, and we'll still be friends tomorrow.
There's the self-help group for people
who are obsessed with Internationals and
it's called the International Harvester Collector's Club
and you are looking at member number 429.
There is a gorgeous I.H. logo in 3-D.
That's a beauty.
I would like that for a tie clip.
This is not a tractor show, it's not a truck show.
This is an art show.
Here come a bunch of gorgeous old trucks.
Old KB model there.
You got a woody coming through.
Three KB models in a row.
Anybody who says an International isn't beautiful
hasn't seen that truck.
I'm not much of a gear head but I'm here today
because I love International trucks.
I love them so much, I wrote a book about one
called "Truck: a Love Story."
And people ask me sometimes, they'll say,
"Is that a love story about a truck or a woman?"
I always ask the question in return,
"Is there not room enough in a man's heart for both?"
I mean, look at her.
For a farm boy, this is like going to the Louvre.
- In a big way, Michael Perry's book "Truck: a Love Story"
was devoted in equal point to his then-fiancé
and all things International Harvester
and after this week's report, you can understand why.
"In Wisconsin" will feature more of Michael Perry's video essays
in the coming weeks.