[at-l] "WALKING HOME"

[rickboudrie@hotmail.com (rick boudrie)]

>Even Bill Bryson, whose WALK IN THE WOODS is widely regarded as largely 
>fictional did not include such a disclaimer.  In fact,
>he  dedicated the book to Katz, the character that most readers regard as 
> >being fictional.

Thanks for giving me something to respond to on this, the saturday before 
April 15th.  Or before the 16th for us special people in MA.

With regard to AT Books, I don't see the problem with changing names, so 
long as the other elements remain true.  Remember how Bryson eviserated that 
woman hiker?  Was her name Ellen?

Even with a just a first name, I can't imagine being in her shoes and having 
the whole world read what Bryson's opinions.  Really, the kind thing to do 
would have been to avoid identifying her, or not write aboput her at all.

That's got me thinking.  With everyone writing journals and posting them on 
the web, don't the more paranoid among us feel a bit funny sharing details 
of our lives with new friends?  Or having journalists reveal things that are 
better left unsaid?  I remember on of the very first on-line journals 
relating a story about a very well known trail personality that some might 
think was better left by the side of the Trail.

No, the more I think about it the more I think that changing names for a 
book not only OK, but preferable.

Rick Boudrie






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