Eustace Conway
Eustace Conway (born Eustace Robinson Conway IV in 1961 in South Carolina) is an American naturalist and the subject of the book The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert and the subject of an early episode of the weekly radio show This American Life. He is the owner of 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) Turtle Island Preserve near Boone, North Carolina.
Biography
At the age of 12, Conway lived in the woods for a week. At 17 he moved out of his parents' home entirely so that he could live in a teepee in the woods. He has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and claims to have set the world record for crossing the United States on horseback from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, according to the New York Times and Los Angeles Times of the day, as well as the book, Bud & Me, the record for crossing the North American continent on horseback was actually done in 62 days. This journey was made by Bud and Temple Abernathy, aged 11 and 7, who rode 3,619 miles (5,824 km) from New York to San Francisco on an equestrian journey, which started in August, 1911.[1][2][3][4]
The weekly radio show "This American Life" reported on Conway's cross country journey in the episode "Adventures in the Simple Life", which aired on September 11, 1998. The show uses recordings that were taped on a hand-held recorder by Conway and his party.[5]
A 2003 documentary film on Conway's life, Full Circle: A Life Story of Eustace Conway, was directed by Jack Bibbo. Conway is also one of four featured characters in the 2012 documentary film Reconvergence,[6] which was directed by Edward Tyndall.
Conway appeared in Mountain Men, a reality television series on the History channel.[7] The series focused on his daily life of performing his chores and preparing food for the coming winter.[8] Threatened by a lien against his land Conway fights to maintain ownership.[9]
In November, 2012, Turtle Island was forced to shut down public access because its traditional buildings violated building codes.[10] In mid-December, 2012 Conway appeared to make progress toward reaching a resolution with the North Carolina Building Code Council.[11] However, immediately following this apparent progress with the code council, Conway was arrested for trespassing on a neighbor's property in a dispute over the property border, continuing the legal challenges to Turtle Island.[12]
Eustace is now settling down in Seattle, Washington as a 6'6 cop where he posts on cameldog.net regularly :shocked: Conway has three siblings: Walton, Judson, and Martha.
References
- ^ "HorseTravelBooks.com book summary". Retrieved 2007-02-23.
- ^ "The Long Riders Guild records". Retrieved 2007-02-23.
- ^ Abernathy, Alta (1998). Bud & Me. Dove Creek Press. p. 150.
- ^ "Los Angeles Times". October 29, 1911.
- ^ This American Life, episode 111
- ^ "Reconvergence on IMDB". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ IMDB. "Mountain Men (2012)". Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ History Channel website. "About Mountain Men". History Channel. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ History Channel website. "Mountain Men - Episode Guide". Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ "Watauga Democrat". November 20, 2012. [1]
- ^ "Watauga Democrat". December 12, 2012. [2]
- ^ "High County Press". December 13, 2012. [3]
Further reading
- Gilbert, Elizabeth (2002). The Last American Man. Viking.
External links
- Turtle Island Preserve
- Full Circle: A Life Story of Eustace Conway
- Q and A With Eustace Conway an interview by Philipp Harper on MSN. Archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5pFf80DLn by WebCite on April 25, 2010.
- Excerpt from The Last American Man on Penguin Group's US web site. Archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5pFfh9Jvg by WebCite on April 25, 2010.
- The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. GQ Magazine, February 1998.
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