Feather Beard: Steps from the Heart of a Solitary Walker

Frank Carter set out in the spring of 2012 to rediscover his family's southern roots, his own essence, and the earth itself by walking 500 miles through America's greatest wilderness path--the Appalachian Trail. The lessons sprawl over the miles, coming from myriad sources, from an ant-riddled worm to a path-guarding bear to a battle-damaged soldier recovering from his horrors through nature's tonic. In a time of environmental crisis and human separation from nature, Feather Beard explores through art, music, and storytelling the act of walking as a mode of reconnecting to the more-than-human world. It re-examines the sojourn as a lost art, a modern take on the walkabout, vision quest, or religious pilgrimage--experiences cultures around the globe seek out, knowing that our personal journeys begin with a thousand steps.

About the Author :
Frank Carter earned a master's degree certificate in Environmental Education from the Teton Science School and a master's of science in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah. He is an award--winning and passionate teacher, writer, -naturalist, artist, and musician. Frank is the communications, outreach, and development -director for the Taft-Nicholson Center for Environmental Humanities -Education in Montana's Centennial Valley. He halfway grew up in Big Sky Country and lives in Bozeman with his wife, Louisa. Feather Beard is his first book. Terry Tempest Williams (born September 8, 1955), is an American author, conservationist and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah and its Mormon culture. Her work ranges from issues of ecology and wilderness preservation, to women's health, to exploring our relationship to culture and nature.

Review :
"As Thoreau and Ed Abbey counseled, Frank Carter went afoot to the woods, making the solitary, soul-tempering hike he recounts in this gentle and gracefully written book. Do likewise, if at all possible. When you get out there, don't attend to your own -sensitivity. Attend to the newts and the rhododendrons and the snapping turtles. Attend to the world, which is wondrous and grainy." -David Quammen, author of Spillover "Casting a spell of sensuous rapture, Frank Carter delivers us to a world -shimmering with rain, alive with birds and bears, frogs and snails, lush with ferns, and loud with thunder. Feather Beard is a walk through time and memory as well as an adventure in the miraculously diverse, wildly mysterious, gorgeously sentient environment. If you long to be restored, this glorious walk will transform your heart and sustain your spirit." -Melanie Rae Thon, author of Voice of the River and In This Light "Feather Beard, Frank Carter's sweet debut, is magical. By embarking with him on the great American wander, his path toward finding meaning becomes our own." -Todd Wilkinson, journalist and author of Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek "Frank Carter has a bear-hug personality that rings like a bell as he walks and dances and slogs along the trail. His walk was 'a beautiful bend in the winding trail' of his life. He leaves us reveling in 'wonder, mystery and beauty'-informed, inspired, charmed, and moved." -Stephen Trimble, co-author of The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places "Frank Carter takes us on an exquisite and honest journey, one of footfalls, questioning, and well-considered connection. By the end we feel closer to the landscape, closer to his heart and also, what all readers want to feel, closer to our own hearts." -Molly Caro May, author of The Map of Enough: One Woman's Search For Place