＂Told from a wife’s perspective, Dirt Roads and Diner Pie is the story of one couple’s struggle to confront the long-reaching effects of childhood sexual abuse. Musician and former lead singer
of the United States Air Force Band, Travis James Humphrey lived for thirty months in a culture of childhood sexual abuse while studying at New Jersey’s prestigious American Boychoir School.
After leaving the school, Travis buried his memories deep. Years into the couple’s marriage, these memories began to surface and threaten their relationship. In an effort to resolve these
problems, Shonna Milliken Humphrey and her husband hit the road and try to navigate their way through the treacherous terrain of mental illness, sexual dysfunction, and shame. Despite the heavy
subject matter, Humphrey’s approach is wry, witty, balanced, and tender. She details their journey within a three-week road trip of the Southeastern United States taken shortly after Travis
made his experience public. While the effects of child sex abuse inform nearly every aspect of their shared life, it does not define their relationship. That is the message Humphrey offers:
Sexual trauma may dominate, but it need not define the relationship itself. Shonna Milliken Humphrey’s nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Salon.com, Down East, and
Maine magazine. For two years, she wrote regular food, restaurant, and lifestyle columns for the Maine Sunday Telegram. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing and Literature from Bennington
College＂--
