Kilroy Was Here
Meghan McCarthy Discusses her Incredible Appalachian Title, The Long Hike
Dudes.
Duuuuuuuuudes.
Look, Meghan McCarthy and me? We came up around the same time. When she was publishing Steal Back the Mona Lisa in 2006 I was just out of my MLIS baby shoes, trying my hand on being a children’s librarian. Fact is, we have a history. She’d come to my Kidlit Drink Nights when Cheryl Klein and I held them in the late 2000s in NYC. I, in turn, loved what she was doing with nonfiction. Unlike a lot of folks, Meghan never went for the obvious subject matter. Charles Atlas. Those weird raptors building homes on the outskirts of Central Park. Balto… but not as you know him. The War of the friggin’ Worlds! Nobody does nonfiction like Meghan, and best of all? She not only makes her books interesting but entirely fact-based. No fake dialogue. No delving into her subjects’ heads to say what they felt about a particular moment in time without sourcing her material.
And googly eyes. Lots and lots of googly eyes.
Problem is, I haven’t seen a Meghan McCarthy title in a while. Last time we checked in with her was for that jaw-dropping book Action: How Movies Began in 2022. It’s been four years since I interviewed her about that title and four years is far far too long for my McCarthy fix. Happily, she has a new book out this year. And it’s a doozy.
Betsy Bird: Meghan! Boy, it’s good to get a chance to talk to you again and lob questions in your general direction. You’ve always been one of the premiere nonfiction picture book creators (a.k.a. someone who does interesting books on interesting topics that are actually is interesting to kids). Your latest book is a deep dive into the first Appalachian thru-hike (that we know of) by one Earl Shaffer. Where did you first hear of Earl and what drew you to his story?
Meghan McCarthy: I became an avid hiker during the pandemic. Being in nature helped me stay sane and grounded. As I was hiking, I thought: It would be great to do a book with a lot of tree paintings in it. At the time, my cousin’s son and his now-fiancé were doing a thru-hike of the AT and posting videos as they went along. They’re now hiking the Continental Divide Trail.
Also, my father, right after he retired from social work, rode his bike from Rhode Island to Maine and then section-hiked the last “100-Mile Wilderness” after reading the book A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. This last 100 miles is as described—once one enters, there’s no turning back. A rescue could take 24 hours or longer due to its remoteness. Therefore, I was well aware of life on the AT. I wondered who started the whole thing so I began searching for the “OG,” as the kids would say, of the AT thru-hike.
BB: Well, and I feel like the timing of this book is particularly good right now. We’re seeing this increased attention on the national parks, and just last year we saw a lot of buzz around Kate Messner’s hike-adjacent middle grade novel The Trouble With Heroes. Now you’ve touched on not just the idea of hiking long distances but the reasoning behind why you might want to try it yourself. You mention in your Author’s Note the hiking you’ve done. What draws you to it? What does it do for you?
Meghan: I live on the outskirts of NYC. There’s no shortage of noise, pollution, rats, potholes, and garbage blowing around like tumbleweed. Hiking is escapism – for me, it’s an attempt to go back to the days when vast parts of the country were wild and new, when there was an absence of cars idling, planes jetting overhead, and even of human life. I once walked a 7-mile trail and spotted zero people all day. There’s nothing better than starting off a hike with the sun blazing, a warm breeze rustling the tree branches, and the sound of water rumbling somewhere deep inside the forest, beckoning me to step into its wilderness. The other thing I love about hiking is the exercise. Hiking mountains, even small ones, is great cardio and provides a nice endorphins boost. I use exercise as a way to destress and clear my mind.
Art! Reference photos! Process! And a story of Meghan on the trail as the day darkens that might haunt my nightmares for a while. Read our full interview here.
What a harrowing night of research! I can’t wait to get this for my husband. He has piece-hiked much of the AT and loves camping. I prefer day hikes, where a shower and an insect free night follow the sunset.