Bill Bryson, Iowan, plans to clean up the English countryside

Bill Bryson, one of my favorite authors, is ready to clean up the English countryside, which seems odd on the face of it, since Bryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa.

"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

So begins his loving, funny travelogue of America, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, which recounts a trip he made through the country after years living and working in England as a journalist.

Bryson, 55, has lived in England off and on since 1973, and I read a report today that he had just been named head of "the quintessentially English Campaign to Protect Rural England."

According to the account by Jeremy Lovell of Reuters, Bryson said that being a foreigner would be an asset, not an impediment.

"I grew up in an industrial farming state. If you suggested to people they should go out for a walk they would think you were mad," he said in the report. "Here, the countryside is so beautiful but you are in danger of taking it for granted."

Lovell explained that the CPRE -- formerly the Council for the Protection of Rural England -- "describes itself as a charity promoting the beauty, tranquility and diversity of the countryside with 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county."

Bryson said the first focus of his presidency would be to fight "the relentless spread of litter across the English countryside."

He's a good man for the job, I suspect. Bryson's gift as a writer has always been to see the beauty in common, small and out-of-the-way places and recognize the magic in what seem to be the most mundane of things.

If you plan to travel to Australia, make it a point to read his In a Sunburned Country.

His look at the history of modern science - A Short History of Nearly Everything - delves into the large and small of the universe and leaves you with a deep appreciation of both what we have learned and what we have yet to discover.

The only thing more fun than reading one of Bryson's books is listening to him read it. If you can find a copy of any of his books on tape or as an audio download, take him on a long cross-country trip. He travels well.