b'A RoadFearlessly TraveledMaplewood resident recalls his hitchhiking adventuresBY ELLEN DONKERT mayhavecometoastandstillwith trepidation that he wrote to his parents, tellingheStoeversays ravel during the past year, but you can stillthem that he would be deferring his enrollment inwasableto experienceitthroughanewbookbylaw school for at least 18 months. recallhistreks Maplewood resident William A. Stoever.As avid travelers, they probably understood bet- indetail,thanks Chances are you wouldnt travel the wayter than most parents. International travel was nottothelettershe he did as detailed in Africa, Japan andcommonplace in 1965, but they were accustomedwrotehispar-Everywhere in Between. He calls it low- to taking their family on trips during summers offents. When they end travel when he happily subsisted on three dol- from their teaching positions to explore the world.savedthem, lars a day, equally divided between lodging, lunch andIn fact, they lived in Istanbul, Turkey the year afterhesays,Igot dinner. For transportation, his goal was to get to theStoever finished high school, a probable spur to hisastackofaero-next destination for free, and it usually worked. love of adventure. gramsthathigh That was 55-plus years ago. Stoever had just com- A lot of time has passed since Stoever set out onfrommyfour pleted a two-year stint with Teachers for East Africa,his travels, but writing his memoirs has kept himyearsoftravel, teaching physics at a school in Tanzania, East Africa,busy since retiring 10 years ago from teaching in theindicatinga for the United States Agency for International De- field of international business at Seton Hall Univer- three-inchspan velopment (US-AID).sity. His stories capture memories that are fascinat- withhisfingers.Maplewood resident WilliamInstead of returning home, he decided to con- ing and daring, insightful and lonely, with a goodAt81yearsold,Stoever recounts his travels fromtinue his adventure and see more of the world. It wasmeasure of history and humor.hesays,Ifyou55-plus years ago in a new book.feature story /19'