Mr. Gortner is the fascinating author of The Secret Lion.
His latest book The Last Queen, a tale about Queen Juana
la loca of Spain, will debut in 2008 from Ballantine
Books.
(interview used with
permission from Historical Boys: Historical
Fiction for Men and Women)
Christopher: I'm breaking the mold here
at Historical Boys
to feature my
friend, Brandon Wilson, an amazing world traveler and writer.
Though Brandon isn't an historical fiction writer, history
permeates his work and I've reveled in his thrilling accounts of
his travels through some of our planet's most fascinating places,
where the past and the present often collide with unexpected
results.
Congratulations on the
publication of ALONG THE TEMPLAR TRAIL. It's an honor to have you
with us. You've written two previous books about your incredible
travels (YAK BUTTER BLUES and DEAD MEN DON'T LEAVE TIPS) but ALONG
THE TEMPLAR TRAIL has special significance for you. Please tell us
about how this marvelous story came about and what inspired you to
take a journey of seven million steps to peace?
Brandon: I have been infected with wanderlust for years
now. It’s my “sweet addiction.” In 1992, during a walk across
Tibet, what began as purely an adventure transformed into a journey
with greater meaning. In Lhasa, once my wife and I learned that
Tibetan people today are forbidden to walk to their sacred sites in
Nepal, we vowed to make it in their stead. Walking across the
Himalayan Plains became a transcendent experience. I was hooked on
slow, deliberate travel, or travel with a purpose. Since then I’ve
been fortunate to have the chance to walk many of the early
pilgrimage routes across Europe. These trails provide a chance to
wallow in history, art, culture, and cuisine. They also nourish a
sense of brotherhood, connectedness with nature, physical and
mental growth, as well as a Zen-like link to the
spiritual.
In 2006,
I was surprised by an invitation from an old pilgrim friend. Would
I be interested in walking to Jerusalem with him? Although it was
an odyssey much longer than I’d ever attempted, I instantly knew
the answer. The historic path would take us over 2600 miles across
eleven countries and two continents. Our route would follow that of
the First Crusades and the first Knights
Templar.
From the
very start, I was determined to make the trek not only as a
personal pilgrimage, but also as a walk for peace. I wanted to talk
to folks along the way about the necessity of solving our problems
in a more enlightened manner than resorting to war as we had the
past millennia. To that end, I eventually hoped my book would
re-launch this historic trail as an international path of peace
that others could walk in brotherhood, regardless of nationality or
religion, much as they follow Spain’s Camino de
Santiago.
Eventually thousands will walk this same path each
year, sharing blisters, food and conversation. Once they walk
together, they’ll discover a connectedness, a personal peace.
They’ll return to their families, jobs, communities and countries
with greater tolerance and belief in our commonality as human
beings. They will embrace the ideal of cooperation on our
increasingly fragile planet.
Christopher: You've traveled to
some amazing places that most people have only heard of, and your
books are full of the wonder of discovering new places, as well as
the travails of finding yourself in situations you were totally
unprepared for. Of all your experiences in your travels, which has
left its biggest impact? What challenges were the most difficult to
overcome? What surprising or interesting historical facts did you
discover?
Brandon: Each journey leaves its mark. They have all been
transformative. I never return home the same person. Walking across
Tibet and doing what the Chinese authorities called “Impossible,”
changed my outlook. It enabled me to never again give up—even while
pushing the limits of survival. My wife and I were shot at, trudged
through a blizzard, slowly starved, never knew where we would spend
the night—or if we’d be taken into police custody. Yet we learned
to have faith, faith that the Universe would provide, that we were
meant to be there, that there was some greater purpose to it
all.
More
recently, walking from France to Jerusalem brought us into contact
with thousands of ordinary people. Many have struggled for
centuries with the devastation of war on their doorstep. Its
challenges were plentiful, even though the setting was more
“civilized” on the surface. The basic necessities of eating,
drinking, and sleeping were always in question as we tried to
follow a thousand-year-old map. Weather varied from freezing snow
to weeks of rain to months of shadeless terrain with temperatures
hovering near one hundred degrees.
Politics
turned out to be the greatest unknown. By the time we arrived in
Serbia, Israel had bombed Beirut Airport, southern Lebanon was
being evacuated, there was a bombing attempt on the US Embassy in
Damascus, and Western travelers were gunned down in Amman, Jordan.
Oh, and an Ebola-like virus raged in central
Turkey.
Still,
without exception, in every country, the people were curious and
kind when they discovered the reason for our journey. Our message
found great acceptance. The people are so very tired of endless war
and some were moved to tears when they heard of our quest.
Historically, we were reminded time and time again of our cultural
connections. In places like Istanbul and divided Cyprus, we were
told how Muslims and Christians had historically lived and traded
in peace for centuries. Muslims would often add, “We are all
descended from the same tree of Abraham,
right?”
By the
end of 160 days, I felt even more strongly that we all share the
same dreams of health, education, opportunity, security, and need
of a homeland. When we realize this, we release the fears and
prejudice propagated by governments, corporate sponsors of
destruction, and religious demagogues. It becomes more difficult to
take up arms against each other. Every war becomes a civil war when
all men are brothers.
Christopher: You've encountered
a series of interesting characters in your travels, in particular
that madcap assortment during the first league of your African
adventure. Indeed, I find when I read your books that I learn not
only about the countries you've been in but also about the foibles
and eccentricities of human nature. Whom have you met during your
travels that you found most enlightening, and
why?
Brandon: Mark Twain once said, “You never really know
whether you love or hate someone until you travel with ‘em.”
Traveling as I do puts you into close contact with people—sometimes
too close. It wasn’t the Africans we found frustrating. Travel is
an intense experience and folks travel for different reasons. We
were ready to wallow in the minutiae of African life—while our
companions would have been just as satisfied staying at home with
cold beer and a warm bed.
Wherever
I travel I truly enjoy meeting and sharing with local people and
learning about their lives. Ordinary people enlighten me: former
monks in Tibet, African villagers, or army officers and
Palestinians in Israel. I enjoy sharing their lives however
briefly. I am inspired by their strength, faith, optimism and
universal hope for peace. If only we can re-channel that fortitude,
we can reshape our society, re-prioritize our budgets, and wage a
lasting peace. As many reminded me, only our governments stand in
the way.
Christopher: Which country would
you like to return to and why? Can you tell us about the country
that proved most controversial for you as a traveler and
writer?
Brandon: There are many countries I’d like to experience
again. Even spending as much as a month at a time in one area, you
only begin to scrape the surface of a culture before you move on.
It’s always enlightening to go back and see how it (or you) has
changed in the years since.
I would
like to return to the Middle East, as it has such a vast history
and culture. Although it is wracked by tension, it has such great
potential to present a positive example to the rest of the world.
On the other hand, I have hesitated returning to Tibet. Since the
completion of the railroad from Beijing to Lhasa, millions of
Chinese visitors have arrived, outnumbering the local Tibetans.
Soon, Tibetan culture will become a vestige of the past. Who will
be left to give the eulogy? Tibet was the ultimate challenge to me
as a traveler and writer. It is disheartening that a nation can be
so ravaged while the rest of the world looks away—or worse, is more
concerned with making money by peddling soft drinks and hamburgers
to a billion Chinese.
Christopher: How do you think
your work speaks to today’s reader and/or how does it resonate for
today’s world?
Brandon: I like to believe my books bridge the typical
travel genre by infusing a place with adventure, history, culture,
the mystical, and social conflict. I avoid using broad brush
strokes to describe a place. Readers have grown tired of hearing
about another beautiful sunset or charming restaurant. And I can’t
blame them.
Traveling slowly, often on a small budget, I
experience the good, bad and gritty of each destination. That often
brings out the good and bad in people—as well as myself. At the
risk of sounding like a terrible person, I strive to expose it all.
I keep copious notes. That way, all the ups and downs are
remembered, as well as the small triumphs and laughs that make each
day unique.
In a
world of constant sensory stimulation, I like to remind people
about the small joys that still exist in our world. I like to share
moments of magic and serenity in secluded places. I like to dispel
prejudices by reminding readers how much alike we are when it’s all
said and done. I like to inspire others to see the world for
themselves without hesitation or fear. I like to challenge them to
discover a personal peace, and as Gandhi once said, “To be the
change they would like to see in the world.”
Christopher: Please tell us
about your next project.
Brandon: Only the wind knows—but my walking stick is
calling once again.
