An eleventh-generation native of Western Pennsylvania, I now live in East Tennessee in the shadow of Chilhowee Mountain. Smaller mountains populated the landscape where I grew up in Northern Appalachia, whereas much larger mountains do in Southern Appalachia, where I’ve made my home for going on three decades.

My grandparents and greats were steelworkers, coal miners, farmers, railroad engineers, educators, or the spouses thereof. My parents are musicians who taught music during their working years.

For the past twenty-five or so years, I have taught on the faculty of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, an outdoor learning center dedicated to connecting people with nature in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Among other things, I design and facilitate immersive multi-day learning excursions for students and adult guests aged 9 to 90, give or take.

What that looks like in practice: I teach a variety of field classes for working adults, middle and high schoolers, university students, and retirees; teach courses in the Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certification Program; co-direct the Tremont Writers Conference; play the role of guide and shepherd on wilderness hikes, and much more. In short, I spend much of my time in the woods connecting with people and the rest of Creation.

For modest pay or in some cases none, I have also worked in a door frame factory, as a job coach for the developmentally challenged, taught English overseas, written for magazines and newspapers, met with members of Congress, cleaned horse stables, built hiking trails, performed in bands and as a solo musician, taught creative writing, and (very intermittently) fought fires and assisted in search and rescue operations.

Weird fact: In Mexico, while driving to Nicaragua to deliver supplies to hurricane survivors, I was almost arrested for operating a school bus without a license. Long story.