Look and Listen

Biography

I grew up in a sleepy southern town, Macon, Georgia. I played golf and basketball, but never took any camping or hiking trips. I often get asked whether I play basketball, because of my 6'11 height. Like most people (which isn't that many people in aggregate!) I had trouble getting used to being this tall, and all the positive and negative attention it brings. I attended the University of Georgia where I studied accounting. After a brief, unsatisfying stint as an accountant, I took a 60% pay cut and moved to Chicago to become a commodites trader. I stayed in this business for 14 years in total in Chicago and London. After this business was computerized (for the better!) I worked in an anti-poverty program in south Texas, and then taught english in five countries in Latin America. When my father died, I decided to try to hike the entire 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail in one year--a so-called thru-hike. I then wrote, Skywalker, an irreverent narrative of that journey. I am now planning to attempt the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2009.

Inspiration

The idea of trying to hike the entire 14 state Appalachian Trail in one year germinated from my years of living in big cities in seven different countries. In each of these countries I developed the habit of walking several miles per day, and rarely missed the comfort (or inconvenience!) of a car. When I read Bill Bryson's bestseller, A Walk in the Woods, in which he unsuccessfully attempted to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, I was immediately turned on by the novelty of the idea. I had a traditional background, and had no idea about everything that such a journey would entail. Instead of the several pedestrian miles per day I was accustomed to hiking, this would be undertaking a journey in my mid-forties on a much more demanding scale. As one would expect one meets characters from all walk of life on this historic mountainous trail. The outdoor life is a whole new world, and very challenging. An elemental fear of bears, cold weather, and getting lost also loomed large. Needless to say, I made one rookie blunder after another. Nonetheless, because I had been dreaming of doing this for several years, I had the requisite determination to finally the complete the trail in 171 days. And along the way I had an epiphany about the outdoor life and the environment, much deeper than anything I had experienced up to that point. Like most mortals, I felt compelled to relive my lifetime journey, and Skywalker is a ruthlessly self-deprecating recollection of that journey. I am not one to make a blanket condemnation of our bourgeouise, acquisitive culture. However, my fondest hope is to inspire others, trapped completely in that system as I was, to balance it out with the wonders of the outdoor lifestyle, and the best place to do that might just be the Appalachian Trail.