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Molly Boni
Biology, 02
Speaker Dr. lan Marshall walks the paths of literary giants on the Appalachian Trail
by Erin McCarty
news editor
Thursday night, Dr. lan Marshall presented
“The Literature of the Appalachian Trail,” a
lecture accompanied by a slide show, in Reed
117.
Marshall, an English professor at Penn
State Altoona, has hiked a large portion of
the Appalachian Trail. He wrote “Story Line:
Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian
Trail,” which was published by Virginia
Press. English professor Dr. Greg Morris
introduced Marshall, sharing his esteem for
him as a writer and as a friend.
“‘Storylines’ is a rich, evocative work of
scholarship,” Morris said, noting the “pro
found affection” for the natural landscape
present in Marshall’s writing.
Marshall began his presentation with a brief
history of the Appalachian Trail. He related
how the trail grew out of one man’s vision.
This writer published an article detailing his
dream of a great pathway stretching across
America, and he inspired many people to
make that a reality. To this day, the Appala
chian Trail is maintained by volunteers.
It is within a day’s travel for two-thirds of
the U.S. population, affording an excellent
opportunity for many to embrace their inner
wildness and to see the land much as the early
pioneers first saw it. Additionally, on the trail
hikers can walk the paths trod by literary gi
ants like Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel
Hawthorne and capture some of their experi-
“The title ‘Storylines’ is taken from Aus
tralia, where they believe the world was sung
into existence,” said Marshall. “It’s a lovely
mythology. You can follow the path of your
literary ancestors if you know the song... The
contours of the melody follow the contours
of the land.”
Just as aboriginal adolescents embark on
spiritual pilgrimages to follow those
songlines, so many Americans make their
way to the Appalachian Trail to undertake a
form of vision quest. To further illustrate this
point, Marshall pulled out his guitar and re
galed the audience with a song titled “The
Appalachian Trail.”
“The Appalachian Trail is where it all be
gan. That’s where this boy first learned to call
himself a man,” he sang. “It was the wind
that taught me how to spread my wings. It
was the path that led me on to other things.”
‘There is lots of wisdom in the experience
of backpacking,” Marshall said. “I emerged
with a deeper, stronger love of the natural
world.”
During his journey along the trail,
Thoreau’s “Walden” was required reading,
and he found it far more useful than any trail
guide. It helped him to achieve a sense of
knowing life at its essence. After he returned
to the working world, it was an annotated
copy of “Walden” which he received as a gift
that led him to realize he was not making the
most of his life. One passage particularly
struck him.
‘“lf you’ve been building castles in the air,
your work need not be lost,’” he quoted.
“‘Now, build foundations under them.’” Thus
inspired, he went to graduate school, hoping
to eventually find himself in a position where
he could “get paid to read and hike.” Along
the way, he discovered eco-criticism, which
is an integration of ecological awareness and
literary study. In this branch of criticism,
setting - which is traditionally given the short
shrift in literary criticism - is of great im
portance. Place matters immensely.
"Going to the Strip Club. "
Justin Creep
Physics, 08
At this point, Marshall segued into the slide
portion of his lecture. He presented three
series of slides, most providing breathtaking
views of the landscapes which so inspired
some of America’s great nature writers. The
photos were taken in the late ’7os, when
Marshall first hiked the northern section of
the trail. He has since hiked the entire length
from Maine to Georgia. Most of the scenes
in the photographs were in Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine.
He described his encounters with other hik
ers, each of whom had code names such as
“Wolverine” and “the Von Trapps,” and
pointed out especially remarkable plants or
animals. Among his photographs were the
largest oak in Vermont and a snake in the pro
cess of swallowing a frog.
He spoke at particular length about his vis
its to the mountain which may have had a
BREAI
the students weren’t working they could rest
in comfort There was ample time for lei
sure, but most of the remaining days were
devoted to labor, which was primarily fo
cused on the preservation of the environment
and the provision of opportunities for every
one to enjoy it.
“It was fun to be able to use my skills as a
laborer to create things that others will be
able to enjoy for years to come,” said Rigoni.
“I couldn’t believe how energized I felt dur
ing the long days, even though I was only
getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night.”
On Monday, the students divided into
FROM FRONT PAGE
j x JSV7
Friday, March 15, 2002
hand in inspiring Melville’s “Moby Dick,”
the various sites which inspired Hawthorne’s
“The Great Stone Face,” “The Ambitious
Guest,” and “The Great Carbuncle,” and to
Walden Pond, a sacred site of solitude popu
lated by hundreds of people on a given day.
The slide presentation concluded with a sign
bearing a quote from nature writer John Muir:
“Society speaks and all men listen. Moun
tains speak and wise men listen.”
During the question-and-answer period
which followed the lecture, Marshall advised
anyone wishing to hike the trail to do as much
training beforehand as possible. He warned,
however, that no amount of training would
be enough, and everyone feels sore when first
starting out on the trail.
“I love the whole culture of the trail,” said
Marshall. Although there are times when
modem society breaks into the pristine na
groups and tackled three different tasks:
planting 200 trees, shoveling sand, and plant
ing a garden with plants native to the area.
Everyone worked together on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday to build a bridge
with a ramp that would allow visitors in a
wheelchair to visit the beach.
“We completed a rather large project in a
short amount of time,” said Pflugh, MIS 07.
“We even got to see a lady in a wheelchair
using our ramp on our last day. It was really
a positive experience.” Shrout said that this
was at least the seventh alternative spring
break at Behrend. Several of the students in
"Finding out Karas was a Pro
prospect."
Lurch Krawczynski
Liberal Arts, 08
ture, he said he doesn’t mind the presence of
other people because the human community
is one of finest in the world. He does, how
ever, object to motors, cell phones, radios,
and other objects which encroach upon the
beauty of nature and the disconnectedness of
his trek. In addition to the beauty, he finds
the danger of nature exhilarating.
“The element of nature gives it the extra
relish,” he said. “We use our finest human
capacities to the fullest.” He concluded his
remarks with a proclamation of the connec
tion between children and the natural world,
and he encouraged taking children out into
nature to satisfy their natural curiosity. He
also related its therapeutic and educational
value, noting how he’s seen everyone from
biology students to troubled teens reap ben
efits from interaction with nature.
Marshall’s lecture was paid-for by the Mary
Behrend Cultural Fund.
attendance this year had participated in the trip
before and returned because it was such a posi
tive experience.
“I went because when I went last year, my
relationship with God grew so much,” said
Webb, MIS 06. “It was impossible to serve
bread to homeless, and not see the beauty God
put within each of them.” One of the most
positive aspects of the trip was the sense of
community enjoyed by the students, causing
them to build friendships that may last long
into the future.
“The break was a great experience for all
of the students,” said Pflugh “Even though
The Behrend Beacon
" Go-kart racing."
Holly Ristau
Chemistry, 08
PHOTO BY ROB WYNNE / BEHREND BEACON
Dr. lan Marshall, author of “Story Line:
Exploring the Literature of the Appala
chian Trail,” spoke on Thursday about his
experiences chasing literary visions in the
Appalachians.
few of us knew each other prior to the trip,
this group of strangers really pulled together
by the end of the week."
Shrout said that this trip proved to be an
ideal pairing of service to people and ser
vice to the environment. She hopes that fu
ture trips will be similarly balanced so that
students of varying interests can put their
skills to the best use. She also said she
would like to see more faculty participation
in the future.
Any students interested in taking part in
service opportunities here on campus should
contact Jestin Carlson, president of Reality
Check, atjncllB@psu.edu.