Peter Jenkins (travel author)

Peter Jenkins (born August 7, 1951) is an American travel author known for walking from New York to Oregon between October 1973 and January 1979 while writing a bestselling book, A Walk Across America.

Peter Jenkins
Born
Peter Jenkins

(1951-08-07) August 7, 1951
Occupation(s)Writer, Travel writer
Known forAuthor of A Walk Across America

Early life and education

Jenkins is a graduate of Alfred University, with a BFA in Sculpture/Ceramics (1973), as well as an honorary doctorate (2003).

Walk across America

Jenkins began his walk across America in Alfred, New York in October 1973. He was accompanied by his dog, Cooper, a half Alaskan malamute that died in an accident with a water truck at The Farm in Tennessee.

Upon reaching the end of his southward trek in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jenkins found a new companion, Barbara Jo Pennell, who became his second wife and accompanied him on his walk west. He finished the journey in Florence, Oregon in January 1979.[1][2][3]

National Geographic magazine became interested in his walk after Jenkins and Cooper stopped in at the magazine's offices while walking through Washington, D.C. Jenkins' walk experience was featured twice in the magazine: "Walk Across America" in April 1977, and "Walk Across America: Part II" in August 1979.[2]

In 2012, Jenkins returned home from a 2-year drive across America in a 1957 Chevy station wagon.

Personal life

Barbara and Peter have three children. They divorced in 1987. Peter married two more times, and has three more children with his other wives.[4]

Jenkins resides in Spring Hill, Tennessee.[5]

Works
  • A Walk Across America (1979)
  • The Walk West (1981)
  • Journey into China (1982)
  • The Tennessee Sampler (1985)
  • Across China (1986)
  • The Road Unseen (1987)
  • Close Friends (1989)
  • Along the Edge of America (1995)
  • The Untamed Coast (1995)
  • Looking for Alaska (2001)[6]

References
  1. Maynard, Joyce (February 25, 1979). "Traveling Light". The New York Times.
  2. YORK, MICHELLE (February 13, 2005). "A Writer Treks Across America, Again". The New York Times.
  3. Drabelle, Dennis (February 11, 1979). "A WALK ACROSS AMERICA By Peter Jenkins". The Washington Post.
  4. Jenkins, Barbara Jo (October 23, 2023). "My Husband And I Were Front-Page News For Our Walk Across America. Deep Down, I Felt Like A Fraud". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 23, 2023 – via Yahoo! News.
  5. "Peter Jenkins". Macmillan Publishers.
  6. "LOOKING FOR ALASKA". Publishers Weekly.
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