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Walk Across America (1979), Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998), Barbara Savage’s Miles from Nowhere (1983), and William Least-Heat Moon’s Blue Highways Charles Kuralt’s A Life on the Road (1990) and America (1995), and John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1962).


It was winter time in the mountains of North Carolina and I became engrossed in these books about travel and the people the authors met along the way. The modes of trans- portation didn’t seem to matter (walking, bicycling, driving) but each author experienced a unique piece of America when they slowed down and interacted with the landscape and people. There were so many more books to read, but spring was fast approaching and I found myself wanting to get back on the road and back to biking more trails. It was time to put the books away and hit the trail. I enjoyed reading about walking, but I’m not really a


walker. I was born with club feet and had the good fortune to have an excellent doctor who after a few surgeries straightened my feet enough for me to walk without a noticeable limp. But it can get rather painful if I walk long distances.


I’m more of a bicycle rider. Which means I usually bicy-


cle around Black Mountain, NC where we live or drive (local or cross-country) to ride rail trails or mountain bike trails. For me bicycling is the perfect compromise between being slow enough to stop if you want to but quick enough to cover some distance if you want to. You carry all your gear on the bike and it doesn’t hurt your feet quite so much. And  people on the trail and while camping. As far as interviewers go I rediscovered Studs Terkel. I


had heard Studs on “Prairie Home Companion” a few times and really enjoyed his voice and style. Over the course of his 45 years (1952-1997) on WFMT radio in Chicago Studs dis- cussed every aspect of 20th Century life with movers, shak- ers, artists, and working folks. The Studs Terkel Radio Archive website contains over 9,000 hours of radio and book interviews— 5,000 plus stories (check it out at studsterkel.wfmt.com). I picked a few inter- views from each decade and found them really enjoyable and informative. I’m looking forward to listening to more. These days most authors also have a website and blog. While on his cross-country trek Andrew had a website titled “Walking to Listen,” and today his website is “Living to Listen” (check it out at livingtolisten.com). Andrew is a fea- tured speaker around the country where he speaks about his Walking to Listen journey as well as focused talks on “Listening: A Path to Peace” (activism, leadership, and as spiritual practice) and “Coming of Age: Journey to Adulthood.” To put it simply Andrew Forsthoefel walked across a continent to listen to strangers and learn from them. He started talking to people about their lives and, sometimes, what their lives had taught them. He’d ask people about the idea of home, aloneness, family, love, death, and all sorts of


35


 nature, his book is packed with a diversity of human experi- ences and wisdom.


As with much of the best travel writing, it’s the voice of the author that make readers want to stick with a writer over a long journey, and Andrews voice has an honest and disarming candor that accounts for much of the book’s appeal.


Reading is a form of “listening” that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. I look forward to listening to your adventures  Trails.


Jim Schmid has been State Trails Coordinator for South Carolina and Manager of The Florida Trail for the U.S. Forest Service. See his own trail travels at jimstrailresources.wordpress.com.


Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story At A Time


By Andrew Forsthoefel


Published 2017 400 pages


ISBN 13:9781632867001 


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