NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8ServiceAcademicsFine Arts
Walkin’ Jim Stoltz shares songs of travel
Nov 4, 2004 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
“So live each day like you mean it; grab hold of each dawn that comes your way. And if it’s blessings you’re a-countin’, try a morning in the mountains. There ain’t no better way to start the day,” sang Walkin’ Jim Stoltz to his Lower School audience during his “Forever Wild” show Nov. 4.
Stoltz, whose mission is to preserve the wilderness, protect the planet’s creatures and fight for the right to a clean and healthy environment, leads somewhat of a double life, spending months in the backcountry soaking up the solitude of the wild places and writing songs and poetry before taking his show on the road and sharing his travels through song.
It all began in 1974, when Michigan-born Stoltz decided to walk the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He later spent a year-and-a-half walking from the Atlantic to the Pacific and four years hiking the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada. To date, Stoltz’s miles total more than 24,000, and it’s no wonder folks call him “Walkin’ Jim.”
“Jim has an uncanny ability to bring the wild to students though a multimedia program of music, poetry and slides from his long treks throughout the United States,” said Diane Lumpkin, Lower School assistant principal. “Great stories, good songs and fun sing-a-longs made the Lower School assembly educational and entertaining.”
Stoltz’s music career dates back to the early 70s, before his first trek. With no formal music training, his roots are based solid in traditional folk music, and his original songs often sound more like 100-year-old ballads. Most of his songs are written out in the wilds, and song topics range from 19th century mountain men, to grizzly bears and mountain lions, to rosy desert evenings, to fresh mountain rainbows.
“[Stoltz] sings in a deep bass that sounds like a distant rapid in a canyon stream. His songs are paeans to nature…” said Kenneth H. Bacon of The Wall Street Journal.
In the spring of 1991, Stoltz was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Outstanding Achievement Award “for sharing nature and wilderness with others across America through his extraordinary words, images and music.”
While Stoltz will not be taking any long hikes this year due to a recent kidney transplant, he was recently able to complete a six-day hike in the Beartooth Wilderness and a three-day trip to the Scapegoat Wilderness in his home state of Montana.
“I’m already looking forward to next year when I can head out for another of my long treks,” said Stoltz, who is happy to be healthy and able to continue his work, his music and his long walks. “With my renewed energy, I was able to finish my ninth recording. It’s fresh off the presses. I’m also working on two new books, painting again and touring in the Southeast this fall.”
Stoltz currently spends a large portion of each year on the road, singing in schools, colleges, community concerts, coffeehouses, festivals and fairs throughout the country. This includes performances on National Public Radio and television. Please click here for more information about Walkin’ Jim Stoltz and his “Forever Wild” show.
Stoltz, whose mission is to preserve the wilderness, protect the planet’s creatures and fight for the right to a clean and healthy environment, leads somewhat of a double life, spending months in the backcountry soaking up the solitude of the wild places and writing songs and poetry before taking his show on the road and sharing his travels through song.
It all began in 1974, when Michigan-born Stoltz decided to walk the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He later spent a year-and-a-half walking from the Atlantic to the Pacific and four years hiking the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada. To date, Stoltz’s miles total more than 24,000, and it’s no wonder folks call him “Walkin’ Jim.”
“Jim has an uncanny ability to bring the wild to students though a multimedia program of music, poetry and slides from his long treks throughout the United States,” said Diane Lumpkin, Lower School assistant principal. “Great stories, good songs and fun sing-a-longs made the Lower School assembly educational and entertaining.”
Stoltz’s music career dates back to the early 70s, before his first trek. With no formal music training, his roots are based solid in traditional folk music, and his original songs often sound more like 100-year-old ballads. Most of his songs are written out in the wilds, and song topics range from 19th century mountain men, to grizzly bears and mountain lions, to rosy desert evenings, to fresh mountain rainbows.
“[Stoltz] sings in a deep bass that sounds like a distant rapid in a canyon stream. His songs are paeans to nature…” said Kenneth H. Bacon of The Wall Street Journal.
In the spring of 1991, Stoltz was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Outstanding Achievement Award “for sharing nature and wilderness with others across America through his extraordinary words, images and music.”
While Stoltz will not be taking any long hikes this year due to a recent kidney transplant, he was recently able to complete a six-day hike in the Beartooth Wilderness and a three-day trip to the Scapegoat Wilderness in his home state of Montana.
“I’m already looking forward to next year when I can head out for another of my long treks,” said Stoltz, who is happy to be healthy and able to continue his work, his music and his long walks. “With my renewed energy, I was able to finish my ninth recording. It’s fresh off the presses. I’m also working on two new books, painting again and touring in the Southeast this fall.”
Stoltz currently spends a large portion of each year on the road, singing in schools, colleges, community concerts, coffeehouses, festivals and fairs throughout the country. This includes performances on National Public Radio and television. Please click here for more information about Walkin’ Jim Stoltz and his “Forever Wild” show.
