For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago, maybe even beyond. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions a couple of times a month. Here are the questions from July's title, Grandma Gatewood's Walk. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail
by Ben Montgomery
Summary:
Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, sixty-seven-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. By September 1955 she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin, sang “America, the Beautiful,” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”
Driven by a painful marriage, Grandma Gatewood not only hiked the trail alone, she was the first person—man or woman—to walk it twice and three times. At age seventy-one, she hiked the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail. Gatewood became a hiking celebrity, and appeared on TV with Groucho Marx and Art Linkletter. The public attention she brought to the trail was unprecedented. Her vocal criticism of the lousy, difficult stretches led to bolstered maintenance, and very likely saved the trail from extinction.
Author Ben Montgomery interviewed surviving family members and hikers Gatewood met along the trail, unearthed historic newspaper and magazine articles, and was given full access to Gatewood’s own diaries, trail journals, and correspondence. Grandma Gatewood’s Walk shines a fresh light on one of America’s most celebrated hikers.
Discussion Questions
Why do you really think Emma Gatewood did all that walking?
How could she abandon her kids when she left for California?
Why do you think Emma Gatewood didn't want to tell anyone about her failed first attempt at a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1954?
She told many newspaper reporters she was a widow when her husband was alive and well in Ohio. What social pressures were at play in 1955 that would cause a morally-centered teetotaler to repeat that lie in the press?
Why do you think Emma Gatewood took up long-distance walking late in life?
Are there social ills tied to our dependence on automobiles and our general lack of walking?
Emma Gatewood unknowingly pioneered the ultra-lite hiking movement, bringing along very little in the way of supplies for a 2,000-mile journey. If you had to pack for a long hike like that, what items could you not do without?
Do you think the preservation of the Appalachian Trail is important? Why?
Author Ben Montgomery portrayed “Grandma” Emma Gatewood as a strong, resilient women throughout her many journeys in this book. How did these character traits serve her well during her many hikes?
What challenges did she face in her marriage to P.C. Gatewood? Do you feel that she showed strength and resiliency in her personal life? Can you give some examples?
What were some of the main obstacles that Emma faced during her first successful through-hike of the Appalachian Trail? Do you feel she was prepared for all of the challenges that were presented to her on this hike? Looking back, what could she have done differently?
Do you think Emma Gatewood anticipated all of the publicity that arose from being the first woman to hike the full length of the Appalachian Trail? How did she respond to this publicity and the many reporters that asked her for interviews? How did she benefit from meeting other people on the trail? What did she learn for herself? What did people learn from her?
Many reporters called Emma Gatewood the “Queen of the Appalachian Trail” and asked Emma questions along her journey; however some may feel that she never really conveyed a solid purpose for the walk. Why do you think Emma decided to walk the Appalachian Trail? Do you think she conducted her walks for fame, personal reasons, exercise, or something other? What passages in the book support your ideas?
In 1955, after she had been gone for nearly a month on her walk on the Appalachian Trail, Emma Gatewood’s “children hadn't heard from her, had no idea where she was or what she was doing, but not one of them was worried” (p. 45). Why do you think this was the case? Do you think that times have changed and her unexplained absence would be overlooked in today’s times?
This story depicts not only Emma Gatewood’s journey on the trail, but also the journey of America’s progression into modern times. What were some of the advancements discussed in this book at the time of her journey? What other types of advancements has our country incurred after Emma Gatewood’s time? What types of innovations that exist in our present time could have assisted her on her hikes?
In your opinion, did Emma adequately prepare for her first successful through hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1955? Were you surprised to find that she had a failed attempt of hiking the trail the prior year? What would you want to bring if you were to take a journey such as this one? Do you believe that you would have succeeded on such a venture?
What were some significant results, events, or movements that occurred in our country as a result of Emma Gatewood’s walks and the publicity that she brought to the Appalachian Trail?
What will you take away from this book in reading the stories about Grandma Emma Gatewood’s life, her inspirational hikes, and all of her achievements?