“Last American Man”, Eustace Conway

Eustace Conway is a unique naturalist. He celebrates the freedom of individuality in all aspects of life. He is a spokesperson for the Earth, giving voice to the natural environment he loves. The renowned wildlife artist, Sallie Middleton, told him on his thirtieth birthday, “You are the most interesting man I have ever met.” Perhaps this is because Eustace has lived the life he has imagined…followed his dreams. Like thoreau, Eustace has gone to the woods to live deliberately, fronting only the essential facts of life, to see if he could not learn what it had to teach, and not when he came to die discover that he had not lived. He has lived in the woods for over 20 years. He learns by visiting extremes; once when Eustace severely cut his thumb, he sewed it back together with twelve stitches, and used plant medicine.

Dr. Harvard Ayers, Appalachian State University Anthropology Professor, summed up Eustace’s many endeavors by saying, “Eustace is an articulate student of life.” Eustace is an A. S. U. graduate honored as “Most Outstanding Anthropology Senior.” He holds a degree in English as well as anthropology. But Eustace’s favorite classroom is nature; he loves the rain; he loves the cold. He is quick to smile when quoting Steve McQueen: “I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than any city in the world.”

Eustace is a veteran of an active life following the motto of “just do it!” Eustace camped alone for a week in the mountains at age twelve, living off the land and loving it! At age seventeen, he moved outside to live in an Indian tipi, which was his only home for 17 winters. For years he wore only homemade buckskin clothes and made and gathered his implements. At age eighteen he canoed 1,000 miles on the Mississippi River. Then he walked across America on the Appalachian Trail, completing the 2,000 mile journey. He kayaked the entire southern coast of Alaska amongst icebergs and whales. He has backpacked over 5,000 miles of breathtaking wilderness trails in North America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe…from sandy deserts to lush jungles. He has lived with many different Indian tribes celebrating their cultures with them. He has served as federal interpreter at Chaco Canyon National Park in New Mexico and as state naturalist at Crowders Mountain Park in North Carolina.

Find out more about this extraordinary fellow at Turtle Island Preserve.