I remembered my granny who traveled to Arkansas as a child in a covered wagon, and then spent her whole life scratching a living out of the rocky hills of the Ozarks. She didn’t have more than a cotton dress and a tattered apron, but I never heard her whine about being poor, cooking on a hot wood stove or making 100 biscuits each morning for her large family. Between my new husband insisting I shape up and memories of her endurance, I walked on and kept my mouth shut.
― Barbara Jenkins Interview, Huff Post
What booksellers are saying about So Long As It’s Wild
- So Long As It’s Wild is a book about walking the same way The Odyssey is a book about sailing. Barbara’s story is incredible, and one that many women can relate to – that of being overlooked and sidelined in favor of her male partner. Her voice rings loud and clear in this memoir, telling not only her side of the story but her story alone. The writing is graceful, at times reading like an adventure novel, at times like poetry. I loved this one.
― Ellen Woodall, Blacksburg Books in Blacksburg, VA | Buy from Blacksburg Books
- A fascinating story of the trials and tribulations of not only a walk across the country, but a young marriage finding its way.
― Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in Summerville, SC | Buy from Main Street Reads
About Barbara Jenkins
Barbara Jenkins grew up in the wild beauty of the Ozarks with no running water and homemade clothes. The first in her family to go beyond an 8th grade education, she received her Master’s from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She shot to fame in 1976 with her then-husband for their ambitious walk across America. That journey became the inspiration for their New York Times bestseller The Walk West, selling over 12 million copies. She has since published a number of other books, including The Road Unseen, a Gold Medallion Book Award winner. Her writing and entrepreneurship has been featured on Good Morning America, Reader’s Digest and more. Jenkins now travels the country, speaking at universities, conventions, and other events about her story. When she is not writing, speaking, or traveling, Jenkins loves spending time with her granddaughters, Josephine and Lyla. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
