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John Sheirer

What do you do if you're an amateur adventurer and environmentalist who dreams of hiking the Appalachian Trail or saving the rainforest, but you can't quit your day job or abandon personal commitments? John Sheirer created his own project: From May 17, 2005 to May 16, 2006, he hiked the same trail in Somers, Connecticut, once a day, every day. He chronicled the year in Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail, a book composed of 365-word accounts of his hiking project. Along the way, Sheirer discovered that an obsession with hiking and caring for the same New England trail every day can be surprisingly adventurous--ranging from blistering heat, flooding rain, whiteout snowstorms, early mornings, dark nights, and everything in between. (Plus there's an unexpected love story and a really cute dog.)

Loop Year has just been published (June 2008) by PublishingWorks, a terrific press in New Hampshire!

Check out John's upcoming Loop Year events.

This is what some very nice people have said about Loop Year:

   • “Loop Year is an excellent concept deftly executed. It is engaging, funny, and thoughtful.”
     - David Miller, author of Awol on the Appalachian Trail

   • “John Sheirer’s daily devotional to the joys of hiking reminds us that we don’t have to hike long, or far, or even far from home to reap the rewards of being in nature and simply putting one foot in front of the other. John hiked with mindfulness and honesty, and as a reader, I felt privileged to be brought along on his journey. I recommend this book for anyone who loves to hike or is looking to be reminded why hiking is so much more than exercise.”
    - Angela Ballard, coauthor of A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple’s Trial by Trail

    • “John Sheirer’s Loop Year will draw you in and captivate you with humor, heart, and keen-eyed detail. He reminds us that big journeys are built on many small steps. Keep this book by your bed, and you’ll always have a reason to join John on the trail.”
    - Rebecca Lawton, author of Reading Water: Lessons From the River

    • “John Sheirer is a skilled and thoughtful American writer, and his account of a year on the trail is an eloquent bit of Americana. Take this literary hike with Sheirer and you will be enlarged, enlightened, and entertained.”
    - Jay Atkinson, author of Ice Time: A Tale of Fathers, Sons, and Hometown Heroes

    • “As a hiker, nature lover, and memoir fan, I’m thrilled by this wonderful book. It’s a great tree trunk of a hiking year. Readers will be happy to join John for his Loop Year.”
    - Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Songs From a Lead-Lined Room, Shelf Life, and Sundays in America

    • “Loop Year feels like a gift from the author, full of honest writing. It will keep readers wanting to turn the pages, to put on their hiking shoes, and to start their own writing.”
    - Diane Payne, author of Burning Tulips

    • “Loop Year takes you to a world of nature, introspection, humor, and dedication. This book is a hike along the trail with a tremendous writer and observer.”
    - Tim Gager, author of Twenty-Six Pack and Short Street

    • “I read it cover to cover, and it was delightful!”
    - Karen Spern, Information Specialist for the Land Trust Alliance

- Check out two of John's Loop Year "sponsors":

The Northern Connecticut Land Trust

Hi-Tec hiking shoes

- Read about John being honored with a Connecticut Green Circle Award for his Loop Year project!

John Sheirer (pronounced Shy-er) is the author of the new memoir Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail, which received the Connecticut Green Circle Award for environmental activism, as well as the 2005 memoir Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere, a finalist for the Sante Fe Writers Project Literary Award.

He teaches English and Communications at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut, where he has been honored multiple times by Who's Who Among America's Teachers and recently received the Distinguished Service and Educational Excellence Award.

John lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his wonderful wife Betsy Barone, terrific stepkids Danielle and Daryl, and Daisy the amazing hiking dog. John can be reached at jsheirer@acc.commnet.edu.

John Sheirer at the McCann Family Farm in Somers, Connecticut, setting for his book, Loop Year. The book is a memoir of John's attempt to hike the same two-mile nature trail every day for a year.

Scenes from the "Blue Trail" at McCann's in all four seasons of John's 365-day hiking project chronicled in Loop Year.

John climbs "Big Killer Hill" during the final months of his year-long hiking project, Loop Year.

- To view a photo gallery of John's Loop Year hiking project, click here.

- To read samples from Loop Year, click here.

- To purchase Loop Year on Amazon.com, click here.

- To read samples from John's previous memoir, Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere, click here.

- To purchase Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere on Amazon.com, click here.

- To purchase John's public speaking guidebook, Shut Up and Speak! on Amazon.com, click here.

- To purchase John's book of poems, Saying My Name on Amazon.com, click here.