Author/photographer/adventurer Brandon Wilson’s latest book, Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace, has earned the gold for 2009 Best Travel Book in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.
Author/photographer/adventurer Brandon Wilson’s latest book, Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace, has earned the gold for 2009 Best Travel Book in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. The awards, recognized as the most prestigious in their field, were announced October 11th in Guadalajara, Mexico at the annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers, the professional organization of travel journalists and communicators.
The competition, for work from spring 2008 to spring 2009, drew 1,191 entries judged by faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Along the Templar Trail chronicles Brandon Wilson’s incredible 2600-mile peace walk across two continents with his French companion. Their courageous journey from France to Jerusalem traced one marched a millennium ago by those who became the first Knights Templar. Midwest Book Review called it, “More than the mere adventure of two brave men, it is a grand and noble quest for peace, as well as a spiritual voyage that will leave readers emotionally and intellectually replenished…”
Competition judges added, “The author is a skillful narrator of people and places far from even the most adventurous traveler. Writing is descriptive and personal and purposeful.”
This is Brandon Wilson’s third non-fiction travel adventure book. It was also short-listed for the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award (Adventure/Recreation).
Wilson is also author of the IPPY award-winning Yak Butter Blues about a harrowing 1,000-kilometer trek across the wild Tibetan plateau, and Dead Men Don’t Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa detailing a crazed seven-month trans-African escapade. He is currently working on a new book about his latest adventure: an eight-country, 1500-mile trek traversing the high Alps. It is slated for publication in late 2010.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the competition, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. The competition is open to all North American journalists. The awards are named for Lowell Thomas, acclaimed broadcast journalist, prolific author and world explorer.
Along the Templar Trail, published by Pilgrim’s Tales, Inc. (Hawaii), is available from Ingram, Baker & Taylor, or Follett Library Resources. It is available abroad from Ingram, Bertrams Books, or Gardners.
For a preview, visit Pilgrim’s Tales at Click here.
Perfect for fans of Bill Bryson, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Cheryl Strayed, this is more than a travelogue—it's a hilarious and heartfelt journey for anyone who has ever wondered: "Is this it?"
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