Authors & Outdoor Personalities: A Generational Analysis
The following generational types have been adapted from: Strauss, William and Howe, Neil. Generations: The History of America's Future. New York: William Morrow, 1991. See also: "Generational Analysis"
An asterisk (*) below indicates an author or outdoor personality from the Primary List of Authors & Outdoor Personalities studied in the Survey of Outdoor Education Literature course.
Transcendental Generation (b. 1792-1821)
Generation Type: Idealist
Outdoor Profile: Budding interest in the appreciation of outdoors & outdoor activity
Henry David Thoreau* (1817-1862) Writer: Walden.
Thomas Cole (1801-1848) Father of the Hudson River School of Painting: Landscape with Tree Trunks, etc.
Gilded Generation (b. 1822-1842)
Generation Type: Reactive
Outdoor Profile: Golden age of mountaineering & exploration of the American West
Mark Twain* (1835-1910) Writer: Roughing It, etc.
Edward Whymper* (1840-1911) Climber & Writer: Scrambles Amongst the Alps.
John Wesley Powell* (1834-1902) Explorer: The Exploration of the Colorado.
Isabella Bird* (1832-1904) Adventure Travel & Writer: A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains.
John Muir* (1838-1914) Mountaineer & Hiker: Steep Trails, etc.
Albert Bierstadt (1820-1902) Painter: "Wind River Country," "Buffalo Trail."
Thomas Moran (1837-1926) Painter: "Grand Canon of the Yellowstone," "Chasm of the Colorado."
Progressive Generation (b. 1843-1859)
Generation Type: Adaptive
Outdoor Profile: Outdoor interest wanes
Fanny Bullock Workman (1859-1925) Bicyclist & Climber. Sets female elevation record.
Missionary Generation (b. 1860-1882)
Generation Type: Idealist
Outdoor Profile: Great interest in outdoor adventure and exploration
Mary Kingsley* (1862-1900) Adventure Travel: Travels in West Africa.
Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969) French explorer, visited Lhasa, Tibet in 1924.
Fridfjof Nansen (1861-1930) Norwegian arctic explorer: First Greenland crossing. Farthest north, 1895.
Fredrick Cook (1865-1940) Attempted Mt. McKinley. Arctic expeditions in 1891-92, 1897-99, 1908.
Robert Falcon Scott* (1868-1912) Arctic Explorer: Journals of Robert Falcon Scott.
Roald Amundsen* (1872-1928) Arctic Explorer: First to reach the South Pole.
Robert Service* (1874-1958) Poet of the Klondike gold rush: The Call of the Wild.
Jack London* (1876-1916) Writer: To Build a Fire.
Sir Ernest Shackleton* (1874-1922) Arctic Explorer: Arctic seas open boat journey.
Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958) Explorer: First to reach the magnetic south pole.
Albert McCarthy (1876-1956) Leader of first ascent of Logan. Following year, went to Alps and made 100 ascents.
Franklin Spaulding (1865-1914) Leader of the first Grand Teton Ascent.
Lost Generation (b. 1883-1900)
Generation Type: Reactive
Outdoor Profile: WW I causes an interruption in exploration, but interest remains and some notable personalities, writers and spokesmen emerge
George Mallory* (1886-1924) Explorer & Climber. Disappeared on Everest.
Kurt Hahn (1886-) Founder of Outward Bound.
Aldo Leopold* (1886-1948) Outdoorsman & Writer: Sand CountyAlmanac.
Sigurd Olson* (1899-1982) Canoeist & Writer: The Singing Wilderness.
Phyllis Munday (1898- 1990) Famous Canadian climber. Commemorated on a 1998 postal stamp.
GI Generation (b. 1901-1924)
Generation Type: Civic
Outdoor Profile: Members of the GI Generation are fighting a war and building institutions. Except for some notable exceptions, over-all public interest in outdoor activities wanes
Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-) First to reach the summit of Everest and return, 1953.
Paul Petzoldt (1908-1999) Well known American mountaineer. Teton & Himalayan climber.
Walt Blackadar* (1922-1978) One of the whitewater world's most famous personalities.
Betty Woolsey (1913-1997) Climber and backcountry ski pioneer in the Tetons.
Monica Jackson (1920-) Member of the first all-women's expedition to Himalayas in 1955.
Colin Fletcher* (1922-) Backpacker & writer: The Man Who Walked Through Time.
Silent Generation (b. 1925-1942)
Generation Type: Adaptive
Outdoor Profile: Over-all public interest in outdoor activities continues to drop as the country settles into a quiet, conformist mood.
Edward Abbey* (1927-1989) Writer. Desert Solitaire.
Jim Whittaker (1929-) First American to climb Everest - 1963 (A Life on the Edge).
Willie Unsoeld (1926-1979) Pioneered the West Ridge of Everest during the 1963 American Expedition.
Roland Huntford* (n.d.) Biographer: Shackleton
Yvon Chouinard (1938-) Prominent climber and outdoor businessman. Founded Patagonia. (Climbing Ice).
Boom Generation (b. 1943-1960)
Generation Type: Idealist
Outdoor Profile: Sharp growth in outdoor activities, and interest in nature and wilderness
Jon Krakauer* (1954-) Mountaineer and writer, Into Thin Air
Scott Fischer (1956-1996) Mountaineer & owner of Mountain Madness
Reinhold Messner (1944-) First to climb all 8,000 meter peaks without oxygen.
Wanda Rutkiewicz (1943-1992) Legendary woman climber. First woman to climb K2.
Rob Lesser (1945-) Renowned big water kayaker. First Inductee to Whitewater Hall of Fame.
Terry Tempest Williams (1955-) Prominent woman nature writer from Utah. (Refuge).
Annie Dillard (1945-) Prominent nature writer. (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek).
Whit Deschner (1948- ) Whitewater kayaker and humorist. (Does the Wet Suit You?).
David Hays (1947-1999) Writer & philosopher from Island Park, Idaho (Passion Below Zero)
Generation X (b. 1961-1981)
Generation Type: Reactive
Outdoor Profile: Participation levels continue to increase and risk level increases greatly
Pam Houston (1962-) Short story writer. (Cowboys are My Weakness)
Mark Twight (1961-.) Extreme climber & mountaineer. (Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber)
Lynn Hill (1961-) Rock Climber. First free ascent of El Capitan's Nose in Yosemite.
Hans Florine (1964-) Speed Climber. (Speed Climbing: How to Climb Faster and Better)
Göran Kropp (1966–2002) Biked from Sweden, soloed Everest without oxygen, rode home.
Millennial (b. 1982 -)
Generation Type: Civic
Outdoor Profile: Interest in outdoor activities is projected to wane
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