Arts & Culture

Martin's Must-Reads

There are one million new books published each year. With so many books and so little time, where do you begin to find your next must-read? There’s the New York Times Bestseller list, the Goodreads app, the Cape Library’s Staff picks shelf and now Martin’s Must-Reads.Every Wednesday at 6:42 and 8:42 a.m., and Sunday at 8:18 a.m., Betty Martin recommends a must read based on her own personal biases for historical fiction, quirky characters and overall well-turned phrases. Her list includes WWII novels, biographies of trailblazers, novels with truly unique individuals and lots more. Reading close to 100 titles a year, Betty has plenty of titles to share.Local support for "Martin's Must Reads" comes from the Cape Girardeau Public Library and the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library.

Martin's Must Reads: 'Leave Only Footprints'

KRCU Public Radio | By Mark Martin

Published July 6, 2021 at 2:06 PM CDT

Before sunrise on January 1, Conor hiked to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park braving the cold Maine weather to watch the sunrise on the continental United States. This began his odyssey to visit every national park in one year.

I’m Mark Martin with "Martin’s Must Reads" and Conor Knighton in his book Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia to Zion Journey Through Every National Park recounts this incredible adventure.

Mr. Knighton’s journey is precipitated by a bad breakup with a fiancé. His travels takes him from Acadia, Maine to Everglades, Florida, from Denali, Alaska to American Samoa located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and all the parks in between.

The first value of this book is the author’s recounting of the vast difference in our national parks and of the unique beauty of each and what they add to America.

The other value in Leave Only Footprints are the issues he noted on his visits: the vast overcrowding that threaten to make it impossible to see some of the parks as experienced at Zion and Bryce Canyon, the impact global warming is having on Glacier Bay and other national parks in Alaska, the realization that national park visitors are 94% white, and the reality that the average age of national park visitors increases every year. These all present a side of the national park system the casual tourist doesn’t notice.

Conor Knighton reflects on his year long journey Leave only Footprints with these words, “I remind myself, it is not a finish line. I had reached the end of the year—the longest and most spectacular of my life—but I knew this wasn’t the end of my journey.”