A Grip on the Mane of Life: An Authorized Biography of Earl V. Shaffer

The first (and only) biography of the first person to report a hike of the Appalachian Trail in a continuous journey--"walking off the war" in 1948. (Published by the Appalachian Trail Museum Society; distributed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.)

David Donaldson

David Donaldson, a special education teacher in Earl Shaffer's ultimate hometown of York, Pa., by happenstance ending up as Earl's finishing hiking partner during Earl's 1998 final thru-hike. Shaffer later agreed to let him write his biography.

Maurice J. Forrester

Maurice Porrester, himself an icon of Appalachian Trail management in his volunteer work with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Keystone Trails Association, knew Earl Shaffer for 30 years and wrote the foreword to his classic memoir.