I'm 30,000 words into a book "Appalachian Trailblazers: Fifty Legends of America's Iconic Footpath."
I want to solicit input from White Blaze members to 1. Make sure my list is an accurate reflection 2. Make sure I don't miss someone who should be on the list, and 3. avoid relying too much on newspaper and magazine articles in fleshing out the short biographs. The content I have so far hits all the bases except perhaps "third base" which would be a vignette from someone who knew them. They aren't all thru-hikers, the list includes well known trail angels, shuttle drivers, obviously some of the planners and maintainers, too. Several of them are dead, so I don't expect slice-of-life stories on them, I already have them well covered.
Here's the list:
Benton McKaye J. Frank Schairer Myron Avery Walt Underwood Mary Kilpatrick Earl Shaffer Gene Espy Emma Gatewood Bob Peoples Ed Garvey Warren Doyle Ron Strickland Mary Goldthwaite George Woodard - Billy Goat Bill Bryson Miss Janet Pat Hastings - Miss Daisy Bill Irwin David Horton Ron Brown Baltimore Jack - Baltimore Jack Walter Wehner - Tipi Jeff Alt Sunny and Bear John Mackey - Strider David Miller - AWOL Anna Huthmaker - Trail Dame Scott Smiles Lee Barry - Easy One Shug Emery - Shug Andrew Skurka Kristin Blacklock Michael Vermeulen Paul Stutzman Jennifer Pharr Davis Zach Davis Reed Gjonnes - Sunshiine Ryan Linn - Guthook Neva Warren - Chipmunk Christian Thomas - Buddy Backpacker Scott Jureck Heather Anderson Stacey Kozel Jessica Mills - Dixie Karl Meltzer Will Robinson Dale Sanders - Gray Beard The Holford Family M. J. Eberhart - Nimblewill Nomad Jeff Sylvester - Sly
To keep from trashing the threads, you can go here to participate. Thanks!
Jim