[at-l] Walking Home--author comments

[kahley@ptd.net (kahley)]

At 10:23 AM 4/15/02 -0400, kellywin@earthlink.net wrote:

>I changed other people's names (and in very rare cases, uniquely
>identifying details about appearances or states of origin) in order to
>protect people's privacy.


Thank you Kelly! I have often wondered if there is any
thought given to the idea that it is intrusive to mention
the real name or real trailname of people when describing their
actions or words? Isn't that the venue of reporters? The
whole idea of naming names on the internet has always
made me nervous. It seems intrusive at the least and maybe
betrayal of an aspect of the hiking community. Must
we assume every hiker is a "reporter" who will share all that
they witness and see with the world, including the names
of those involved? That personal experiences will be
published netwide or perhaps be in library shelves across the
nation seems to be an ample reason to change the names.
Thank you for your consideration.