[at-l] Wingfoot bashing

[jeff@rixco.com (Jeff Beaumont)]

kahley7 wrote:

> Some of don't think there should ever be ONE person to speak for the thru
> hiking community.
> The Trail itself has an organization granted for it's protection.  Long
> Distance hiking has an organization devoted to same.
> Both these organizations have numbers of people who were appointed or elected
> to represent same.  No one
> elected or appointed Dan to anything.  He has built his website on his
> reputation and that reputation is based on
> 'the lie of seven thrus'.   As soon as someone starts telling the truth about
> the lie, someone always starts to piss and moan
> that we are dan bashing.  Since when has telling the truth become bashing?

I've never heard this before. You mean he really didn't do 7 Thru-Hikes?
 
> That is the issue at hand.  Why is ' dan the unelected' ....appointed only by
> himself the "goto" guy for all things AT?
> It's a valid question worthy of discussion.

It's a very simple point that is often missed in all the WingNut bashing.
The guy is simply trying to make a living.
His self promotion is not to elect himself "head of all things Thru" but to
drum up enough enough publicity about himself and his website to make a
living.
This does not excuse his allegedly fascist censoring of his website. But it
does explain most of his other behavior.... IMO.

And as for the "go to guy" comment; I think it shows a fundamental
misunderstanding of the media.
News organizations are perennially short of time to do research at best; and
just plain lazy at worst. There is no way they could sort thru the arcane
world of AT Thru-Hikers and figure out who to talk to about any given issue.
Dan has a website, he (allegedly?)  hiked the trail 7 times, he did consult
for Thor-Lo (I still have the package to prove it), he wrote the most
popular trail guide for nearly the last 10 years...what more do they need to
know? Any reporter would automatically go to him for a comment or
information.
Personally I wouldn't blame Wingfoot for this.

Jeff