A pop culture history aficionado, Chris has a lifelong penchant for documenting the exact sites where things both great and small occurred. As an author, Epting has found that unearthing and chronicling ""hidden"" locations offers him a challenge. What began as an inquisitive hobby soon developed into the writing and photographing of 18 books based on his discoveries, including ""James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks,"" ""Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks,"" ""Roadside Baseball,"" and ""The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture.""
As an extension of his efforts to chronicle the unique, Epting joined Hampton Hotels for a sixth exciting year as national spokesperson and consultant for the Hidden Landmarks program in support of the brand's national ""Explore the Highway with Hampton Save-A-LandmarkÔ"" campaign (the program recently won the President's award).
Chris is a frequent featured guest on numerous radio and television programs such as National Public Radio's ""All Things Considered,"" ""The Savvy Traveler,"" ""Access Hollywood"" and FOX TV's the ""Best Damn Sports Show Period,"" plus radio and TV programs around the world.
He has contributed articles for such publications as the ""Los Angeles Times,"" ""Westways,"" ""Travel + Leisure"" and ""Preservation"" magazine, and hosts the weekly syndicated radio show, ""The Pop Culture Road Trip."" Chris's latest book, ""Hello It's Me…Dispatches from a Pop Culture Junkie"" will be released in July, 2010.
Chris lives in Huntington Beach, CA with his wife and their two children.