Swanson was known as a photographer, historian, author, jazz musician, and magazine and newspaper writer. Beginning in the 1960’s, he was a frequent contributor to "Covered Bridge Topics" the newsletter published by the NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF COVERED BRIDGES.

His interest in covered bridges was launched in 1946 when he unexpectedly came across an old bridge at dusk in Knox County, Illinois. The beauty of that scene never left him and he began to seek out other old bridges and their histories. In the 1960’s he self-published his book about them and became a Midwest authority on the subject.

Swanson was instrumental in helping several communities plan festivals and raise funds to preserve their bridges, including the well-known Madison County Bridge Festival in Iowa. In his home state, he worked with Illinois legislators who developed and unanimously passed a bill to protect the historic structures.

In addition to his book about covered bridges, he penned several more on Americana topics, including Old Mills in the Mid-West, Canals of Mid-America, Rural One-Room Schools, and Steamboat Calliopes. Swanson’s first two booklets written while in his thirties about the care and training of racing homing pigeons, Racing Homer Facts and Secrets and Racing Homer Topics, are still distributed and considered classics in the sport worldwide.

While in his eighties, Swanson wrote a book called Riverboat Gambling. This book coincided with the introduction of gambling boats in the Quad-City metropolitan area of Illinois and Iowa. He called it the "thrill of a lifetime" when he played calliope and was interviewed on national television (ABC network, Good Morning America) during the 1991 inaugural voyage of the Diamond Lady gambling boat in Bettendorf.

Mr. Swanson had remained independent and active despite his years. He continued to golf and do freelance writing. As a jazz musician, his last performance was in March 2003 at the 100^th Anniversary of the former jazz great, Bix Beiderbecke. Swanson played two piano solos in tribute to Bix who had been a friend and contemporary in the 1920’s.

In business, Swanson spent several years in the editorial department of the former Daily Times in Davenport, IA. He later owned and operated a commercial photography business in Rock Island, Illinois, specializing in wedding candids and children's portraits. Some of his photographs of babies attracted national attention, appearing in two press syndications and papers across the entire country.

Retiring from the photo studio in 1965, Swanson turned his attention to writing. He never forgot his love of the written word from his days in newspaper journalism. An extremely prolific writer, he contributed stories and photos to the Sunday sections of the Des Moines Register, the Travel section of the Chicago Tribune and the Quad-City Times and countless other publications throughout his lifetime. Many of these articles centered about covered bridges, old mills, old canals and other historical lore.

With his sharp memory of details and history, he was regarded as a prominent local historian in multiple fields. Many of his life experiences were noteworthy. As a grade school kid, he had witnessed performances of nationally known figures. In 1914 he saw Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley in the Wild West circus playing in Moline. In 1918, he accompanied his father to Chicago to see Babe Ruth go hitless against the White Sox. Swanson became acquainted with several prominent people in his lifetime, including Ronald Reagan, Duke Ellington, the Andrew Sisters, Bix, and several more jazz greats, including Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Louis Bellson, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and PeeWee Hunt. Most of these experiences were put into writing and featured in newspapers.

In the late 1990's, Swanson contributed two long articles to the Quad-City Times on two phases of the life of cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke. One told of his experiences on two Streckfus riverboats, from which Bix was yanked by the musicians' union because of his youth and inability to read music. The second portrayed, the cornetist's life from 1920 to 1930 as a strange parallel to the turbulent "Roaring Twenties, as Bix's career came crashing down about the same time of that memorable stock market collapse in 1929. Swanson is quoted in several books and publications about Beiderbecke. A French author doing research came to Moline in September 2002 to interview him for the first book about the jazz musician to be published in the French language.

Swanson was a 50-year gold card member of the American Federation of Musicians. Other memberships included First Lutheran Church in Moline, honorary membership in the historic Clover Chapel near Woodhull, Illinois, a charter member of the Catfish Jazz Society, and former memberships in the National Society for Preservation of Covered Bridges, Society for the Preservation of Old Mills, and the American Canal Society. Swanson was heavily involved with Winterset, IA Covered Bridge Festival. He took part in the annual event until he retired from it in 1983 and donated his extensive displays to the festivals.

He is listed in Who's Who in the Midwest and Who's Who in Entertainment. He was one of the last few survivors of the 1923 graduating class of Moline High School and the 1928 graduates of Augustana College.

Follow this LINK for a list of books written by Swanson.