Camping and Woodcraft republished by Great Smoky Mountains Association

[Danny Bernstein]

Horace Kephart has been called the John Muir of the East and the savior of the Smokies.

Several of Horace Kephart's books have never been out of print since they were first published in the early 1900s. Now Great Smoky Mountains Association has published a new edition of Camping and Woodcraft, a remarkable historic tome of useful information, lore, stories about surviving and enjoying the woods.

In addition and worth the price of the book alone, George Ellison and Janet McCue, two Kephart scholars, have written an 80 page introduction on Kephart's life.

With the 70th printing of Camping and Woodcraft, the Great Smoky Mountains Association's version offers a great deal that is new. The Association has redigitized and retypeset the book, making it much more readable. There are 100s of line drawings, which were rescanned. Many of the original illustrations were obtained from Libby Kephart Hargrove, great-granddaughter of Horace Kephart, who has been very instrumental in keeping alive an accurate version of Kephart.

To this remastery, they've added over 40 historic photographs, taken by Kephart and George Masa, a photographer and fellow hiker. These photographs were recently discovered by Ms. Kephart Hargrove in a relative's attic and donated to the Association.

The 888-page book is offered for $14.95 for soft cover and $25 for a hardback, special collector's edition. You can buy it in all the Smokies visitor centers, area bookstores and outdoor stores and on the GSMA website.

But not on Amazon. So with all this emphasis on local, this book is very local but will also

become a national book. All members get 15 percent off on anything they buy in visitor center stores and on the web. With a basic membership of $35, a membership quickly pays for itself. See
http://www.thegreatsmokymountains.org/camping_woodcraft_new_edition
And of course, all proceeds help the park.