Off•ice Hours

With an office as full to the brim with books as English professor Louis “Tersh” Palmer’s is, you might imagine that he spends most of his free time working through the nearendless array of literature that surrounds him.

While it’s true that he often has a book on hand, reading acts as a supporting character to the wide variety of other hobbies and projects that he fills his spare time with.

“I enjoy fiction and I try to sort of keep up with contemporary fiction … but I also really enjoy nature writing and so I’ve read a fair amount of nonfiction as well. I’ve been meaning to read the book about Granny Gatewood, who’s one of the first thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. She was sixtysomething the first time she did it and went with a bag with very little supplies in it. She has become kind of a legend,” he said.

His interest in this subject stems from the fact that he has thruhiked the Appalachian Trail in the 1990s and has remained an active hiker, kayaker, and canoeist throughout his life. He is also an active volunteer for the New Hampshire chapter of Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).

His involvement with AMC includes several weeks spent in the summer months working at Three Mile Island camp in Meredith, New Hampshire.

He also puts to use his skills as a commercial boat driver to transport camp goers to and from the island. When he’s not volunteering at camp or visiting with family, Palmer is getting out into nature.

This is unsurprising to students who have participated in the Southwest Semester program, where students and faculty travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to experience the art, culture, landscape, and history of the region while also hiking, camping, and participating in archeological projects such as restoring adobe.

“I have sisters who travel around in their RV, so with them in the summers we’ve gone to Newfoundland and out to the Tetons and western mountains, did some canoeing down in Florida and Georgia and so forth,” he said.

His travels haven’t kept him within North America, though.

“I really, really enjoyed Rome. I enjoy the out of the city parts of England and Ireland,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of fun there, camping along the coast and so forth. But generally just getting out and getting in nature, wherever, is what I love to do.”