Get Back Outside!
Permit me to introduce myself and my books through some recent writing awards.
In late 2024, the Society of American Travel Writers honored two of my books in the current Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.
The new softcover edition of Grandfather Mountain: The History and Guide to An Appalachian Icon won Silver in the “travel book” category, and Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway won Honorable Mention in the “guidebook” division—placing both books among the country’s top titles in two separate categories.
The SATW awards are the most prestigious honors in North American travel writing. Judges said the Grandfather Mountain book (from the University of North Carolina Press) is “a deeply researched scholarly book with clear, sometimes lyrical writing.” The author “has been involved in Grandfather Mountain’s trails since 1978,” and he “presents his unsurpassed knowledge wisely and lovingly.”
Judges said my FalconGuide Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway is a “beautifully produced guide for explorers who seek to proceed on foot,” while offering “sound advice for travelers before the walking begins.”
The volume is recommended by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Parkway’s principal charitable partner—which is why I call this book and my others “advocacy trail guides” for their support of organizations that fund trails and parks.
The 4th edition of Hiking North Carolina is another best-selling FalconGuide and a Bronze award-winner a few years ago in the “travel book/guide” category from the North American Travel Journalists Association, the nation’s other major travel journalism contest.
Speaking of the NATJA awards, earlier in 2024 that contest also presented awards for two recent articles I published in Asheville-based WNC magazine, including Gold in “Cultural Travel” for “The Life and Legacy of Shelby Native and Blue Grass Icon Earl Scruggs,” and Honorable Mention in “Sports, Recreation, and Adventure” for “Staked in the Snow: WNC’s Guide to Camping Out During Winter’s Starkest Season.”
Only looking for easy hikes? Consider my books in FalconGuides’ “Best Easy Day Hikes” series.
The brand new, 2024 edition of Best Easy Day Hikes Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of few books bundled with a National Geographic/Trails Illustrated map of the park (at a great price). And don’t forget the thirty-three hikes in Best Easy Day Hikes Blue Ridge Parkway. Both books are ready to entice you outdoors!
All of my hiking guides are full of less-visited trails and useful advice—like how to take even popular hikes from alternate starting points to escape the crowds (a welcome feature during COVID).
Winter always comes back! Get ready now with my UNC Press book Southern Snow: The New Guide to Winter Sports from Maryland to the Southern Appalachians. It’s the definitive guide to the South’s downhill ski resorts, Nordic ski sites, wintry hikes, snowy mountain climate, and the rich history of southern skiing—it won a 2021 award from the International Ski History Association. Ski film pioneer Warren Miller called the 1986 first edition a “cult classic.”
I hope you’ll consider my books. Here’s wishing you the kind of outdoor experiences that inspire me to write them! See you on the trail!
You might also be interested in my appearance on PBS NC’s Ten to Try, aired on August 31st of 2024.
