Event at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, NC

[MOWGLI]

On Friday evening April 29 at 7 PM, a Writers Roundtable will take place at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, NC.

Featured are the following writers;

Allen de Hart: Trails of Virginia and Hiking North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail and many more.

Jack Igelman: Trekking the Southern Appalachians which is expected to be released in early May.

Sandra Friend: The Florida Trail: Official Hiking Guide and Along The Florida Trail and many more.

Photographer Jerry Greer: Appalachia: The Southern Highlands and Blue Ridge Mountains: America's First Frontier

Johnny Molloy: Long Trails of the Southeast and many many more.

The session will be moderated by Russell Helms, Acquisitions Editor for Menasha Ridge Press.

If you're in the area, please drop by and hear what these folks have to say. They'll be signing & selling books at the event. This book signing is being held in conjunction with the 3rd Southeastern Foot Trails Conference. Most of these writers (not Jerry Greer) will be at Table Rock State Park on April 30th for another Roundtable. Jerry is the featured entertainer at the conference on Thursday night April 28th. He'll be showing his amazing slides to the conference attendees.

For more info about the event in Asheville, please check out the Malaprops website at the following link, and visit the Events at Malaprops page. http://www.malaprops.com

Happy Hiking!

Jeffrey Hunter
American Hiking Society

[Chip]

MOWGLI16,
Many Thanks for the update! I hope to attend. I have a couple of books by
Johnny Malloy (one of those regarding day & overnight hikes in GSMNP) which are very good! Also have de Hart's book on the MTS trail another good one !

Happy Trails,
Chip ;)

[MedicineMan]

trying to figure how to swing it, have to be in Chattanooga Saturday a.m. for a Baylor Regatta...have you ever gone from Asheville to Chattanooga 'under' GSMNP? or would you go from Asheville to Knoxville (I hate the thought of that)....

[NotYet]

Jack Igelman is a great guy! We worked together for about 3 years at a wilderness program. I hope he has success with his book, and I hope to get to the event on Friday.

[MOWGLI]

Jack Igelman is a great guy! We worked together for about 3 years at a wilderness program. I hope he has success with his book, and I hope to get to the event on Friday.

Indeed he is! I received a copy of his new book yesterday. It looks awesome! In addition to covering some hikes on the AT, there is lots of great info about Foothills Trail, Bartram Trail, Chunky Gal & Fires Creek Rim Trails, Mountains to Sea, Art Loeb, and much more. It's a MUST for anyone who likes to hike in the Southern Appalachians.

[MedicineMan]

Luckily for me the Beer Garden was just across the street and since I arrived/parked 30 min's before the talk began I enjoyed a locally brewed porter before settling down to listen to these writers of trail guides.
Alan Dehart was the 'senior' writer of this group and of interest has 50,000 miles of measured trail under his belt, seems that he measures ever trail he writes about, and told of the time when a rattlesnak got caught in the spokes of his measuring wheel, but better yet was the time he was measuring trail and came upon a woman and young son hiking. The boy looked at his mom and whispered something to her, both of them thinking Dehart was out of earshot. The boy asked what was wrong with the man (meaning the man with the funny wheel), to which the mother replied-'he's handicapped'......
Dehart also pointed out that it takes blood, sweat, tears and briars to make a hiking guide and that if heaven doesnt have trails then he isnt going.
Sandra Friend was the representative of the night for the Florida Trail and has of course written a book on that trail, she grew up in New Jersey but did high school in Florida. She pointed out that there are over 2500 miles of hiking trail in that state, removed the myth/fears of snakes/alligators, and pointed out that the biggest threat to trails is underuse.
Jack Eidelman has co-published his latest book with Backpacker Magazine 'Trekking the Southern Appalachians'. His primary motive for writing is to promote 'areas of beauty' and fully realizes the duality of the sword with which he yields-i.e. do you tell people of a wonderful spot only to find later that it has been swarmed and overun. Eidelman was the youngest of the authors presenting.
Johnny Malloy told of how he came into the writing business and honestly explained that it became a way to make a living doing what he loves to do. While Alan Dehart reminded me of Shelby Foote, the noted Civil War historian, Malloy reminded me of a young Davy Crocket. To show patronage I purchased a Malloy book 'Long Trails of the Southeast'. Johnny was very personable and gladly signed my purchase.
All in all I was glad I went and because I was the unofficial WB representative I tried to ask pointed questions in that portion of the evening.
Forgot to mention, on the way back to Roan Mountain I stopped by Miss Janets and finally got to meet her. The house was full of thru's and she was making arrangements for pickups,shuttles,and housing of course....a wonderful person in our trail community!
MedicineMan