About the Authors

ELLEN DUDLEY left her job as media director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national environmental and arms control organization based in Cambridge, MA, and Washington, DC, to become a “professional trail scout” and explore a route for the country’s first Atlantic-to-Pacific trail. She has also been a magazine editor, legislative director, and in 1984 was the media coordinator for the primary and presidential debates.

She is now a freelance writer and part-time graduate writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of The Savvy Adventure Traveler: What to Know Before You Go (Ragged Mountain/McGraw-Hill, 1999). She is co-author (with Eric Seaborg) of American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast-to-Coast Recreational Trail (Mountaineers Books, 1996) and Hiking and Backpacking (Human Kinetics Publishers, 1994).

Her essay, “A Bright and Shining Swamp” appears in the Nature Conservancy anthology Uncommon Wealth: Essays on Virginia’s Wild Places (Falcon Publishing, 1999). Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including The Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dayton Daily News, Seattle Times, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Fitness, American Hiker, Snow Country, Potomac Review, and The World Book Health and Medical Annual.

She has two books in progress: One is a naturalist’s observations of springtime in the Blue Ridge; the other is a novel set in the hills and hollows of Shenandoah. When her nose isn’t glued to her computer screen she volunteers as a CASA, a court-appointed special advocate for abused and neglected children. She also helps Eric clip weeds and rake water bars on “their” section of the Appalachian Trail. A world wanderer, she has road-tested her adventure travel advice on trips to Tanzania, Belize, Morocco, Japan, China, Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Guatemala, the Galapagos, the Alps, the Andes, the Arctic, and the Antarctic (and hopes to add more back-of-beyond places to this list as soon as possible).

 

ERIC SEABORG is a freelance writer specializing in outdoor and scientific writing. He is the co-author (with Ellen Dudley) of American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast-to-Coast Recreational Trail (Mountaineers Books, 1996) and Hiking and Backpacking (Human Kinetics Publishers, 1994). He collaborated with his father, Glenn T. Seaborg, telling the life story of this Nobel Prize winner who discovered plutonium, headed a Manhattan Project section, and advised nine presidents in Adventures in the Atomic Age: From Watts to Washington (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001).

His work has appeared in Sierra, Backpacker, National Parks, American Hiker, The World Book Health and Medical Annual, the Encyclopedia of the Future, The Washington Post, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Lab Tests Online, and Uncommon Wealth: Essays on Virginia’s Wild Places (Falcon Publishing, 1999). He is the former assistant editor of The Futurist magazine and former editor of Clinical Chemistry News. He now writes and edits for two scientific publications.

He is a long-time trails activist who currently serves as president of the American Discovery Trail Society. He served for three years as president of the American Hiking Society and for six years on its board of directors; he currently serves on its advisory board. As a volunteer for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, he maintains a mile and a half of the Appalachian Trail.

 

Ellen Dudley and Eric Seaborg were honored at the White House by President George H.W. Bush for their pioneering efforts in scouting the route for the country’s first transcontinental trail. They also received the first “Outdoors America” Award from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and a conservation award from the DAR.

They are donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of American Discoveries to support the American Discovery Trail.

 

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Ellen Dudley and Eric Seaborg have made dozens of presentations about their adventures in scouting the American Discovery Trail. They also give “how to” talks on hiking, backpacking, and adventure travel. Appearances have included:

  • Outdoors stores, such as REI, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, and Eastern Mountain Sports

  • Schools

  • Scout troops

  • Civic organizations

  • City governments

  • Corporations

They are available for appearances singly or jointly.