"And now the time had come. This was the threshold of my great adventure, long delayed by World War II and without my trail partner, who had been killed on Iwo Jima. Those four and a half years of army service, more than half of it in combat areas of the Pacific, without furlough or even rest leave, had left me confused and depressed. Perhaps this trip would be the answer."

The adventure Earl had in mind was of course his 123-day backpacking trek from Georgia to Maine, the first continuous end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail ever documented. Thanks to his seminal work, Walking With Spring, (first published in 1981) much is known by many about that epic journey. Few, however, know anything at all about those four and a half years that Earl served in the Army during the war. Appropriately entitled Before I Walked With Spring, this book serves as both a prequel to Walking With Spring as well as a rich stand-alone history of an American soldier's wide-ranging experience in World War II's Pacific theater.

In the words of an observant young Signal Corps specialist who wrote with playful rhyme and rhythm, Earl has provided a sometimes humorous and always insightful first-person look at the frightening terror as well as the lonely daily grind of America's war in the Pacific. In his epic poem, "The Doughboy Odyssey," Earl leads the reader on an island-hopping journey that covers tens of thousands of miles, helping us to better know the man and understand the accumulating trauma that helped propel him to become the Appalachian Trail's first thru-hiker.

Also included are 46 other poems plus a number of photos that Earl took during the war as well as a detailed map showing all the Pacific islands that he visited.

(After ordering, please also E-MAIL US indicating which of the 3 CDs you prefer to receive as your bonus.)

You may purchase this book from the Foundation for $39.95 (including your choice of the FREE music CD) plus shipping and handling.

You can click on the song titles in the following paragraph to listen to a sample of each song on the CD. (If necessary, use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page.)

Earl sometimes referred to himself as the "Blue Ridge Runner," which is the name of the CD's lively title song. "Walking With Spring" is a song which Takoma Tedd arranged using the lyrical chapter quatrains from Earl's book chronicling his 1948 hike. Its haunting imagery of the trail from Springer north to Katahdin will resonate with anyone who's ever done or dreamed of doing a long hike on the AT. In "Mountaineer Manifesto," Earl expresses in a unique way his philosophy regarding material possessions and life's priorities. "Wanderer's Quest" describes Earl's idyllic vision of "that lone hidden valley... where life never changes... and only true kindness is shown." Other songs on the CD include "Calling Me Back to the Hills," "Robin Singing in the Rain," "Susquehanna," and "Kinzua Death Chant."

(After ordering, please also E-MAIL US indicating which of the 3 CDs you prefer to receive as your bonus.)