William Donlyn Edwards

Video created October 26, 2023 at his home in Los Altos Hills, California

After the video filmed in the family room, William showed me around his room upstairs...

In September of 2024, William wrote this essay, "The Eternal Wanderer", about me (some of the facts may be a little off, but who's quibbling?)

The Eternal Wanderer

In a world where conformity often reigns supreme, my great uncle Sam stands as a

testament to the beauty of marching to the beat of one's own drum. At 82, Sam is a, breathing

contradiction to the notion that advanced age means slowing down or settling into

quiet, predictable routine. From his early adventures in the Peace Corps, Uncle Sam developed

a great love for travel and adventure. Sam is well known for his crazy outdoor adventures that

most people would not even consider attempting in their 20s or 30s! The story of this free

spirited human began when he was thirty years old and decided that he wanted to sail the

world. For seven years, he abandoned land altogether, choosing to make the vast oceans his

home with his family by his side. He circumnavigated the South Pacific in a modest 42-foot

catamaran boat with his wife and two young children. Sam’s children were homeschooled and

could not call any country home for seven pivotal years of their lives. His tales from these

seafaring years are as fascinating as they are improbable. Upon his return, he shares

adventures of surviving storms in the infamously dangerous Bermuda Triangle, outrunning

pirates off the Marshall Islands, and dancing with dolphins in the Fiji. Whether all these stories

are entirely factual is anyone's guess, but his eyes light up as he recites the stories and shares

his photos. It's hard not to be swept away by the romance of his nautical adventures.

Uncle Sam’s most defining characteristic is his incurable wanderlust, and after his sailing

adventure in the early 2000s, his wanderlust changed venues and he moved on to adventures

on foot. His love for hiking borders on obsession. While most people may like to walk through

the park on a sunny day, Uncle Sam has walked over one thousand different hiking trails with

nis mest prominent accomplishments including the completion of the the Pacific Crest (PCT)

and Appalachian Trails. The PCT is just under three thousand miles long and begins in Mexico

and ends in Canada. He spent approximately 6 months hiking the PCT from start to finish. At 76

years old, he is one of the oldest people ever to complete the trail. 2 years later, at 78 he

completed the Appalachian trail in two years in 2 stretches due to weather and fire delays. His

children begged him to not finish the last 200 miles because he sustained an injury earlier that

year and had a hard time walking. Uncle Sam laughed and considered it his final dream to

complete the beautiful hike. While most people tend to settle down and spend time with friends

and family as they age, Sam found his happiness through the wilderness. He has equally crazy

stories about his time on land as his stories on the sea. His trail name on his hiking adventures

was Solar Sam because he wore a broad brimmed hat with solar panels to provide a charge for

his phone and other necessities. He tells tales of face offs with bears, mountain lions and other

strange lone travelers he encountered on the trails during his months and months of hiking..

Through my connection with Uncle Sam, I learned many unconventional life lessons I

would not have otherwise learned in my simple Bay Area life. I have always assumed that as I

grow older, I will slow down and become more and more complacent and settled down. Sam

has shown me that I should follow my dreams, even if I am 76 years old. Observing him tackle

challenging hikes into his early eighties has redefined my perception of aging, demonstrating to

me that vitality is more a state of mind than a number on a birth certificate. Uncle Sam has also

taught me the importance of marching to your own beat and not caring what others may think of

you. Sam personifies the quote, “You have to be unique to be number one,” because to be truly

happy, you must always follow what is important to you and not others. As he often says, with a

gleam in his eye and his backpack already slung over his shoulder, "Life's too short for the

beaten path. Sometimes, you've got to bushwhack your own trail." In doing so, Uncle Sam has

not only carved out a unique path for himself but has also blazed a trail for others to follow -

maybe not in his exact footsteps, but in the spirit of living life on one's own terms without

preconceived boundaries or stereotypes.