“If we are to believe that our life is a journey, Pilgrim Strong reminds us the best journeys require not only a physical strength but the strength that comes from being vulnerable, sharing our stories, walking together and living in grace. Steve Watkins’ inspiring reflections can be applied to any walk in life, and his pilgrimage tale reminds us that we can find meaning and holiness every step of the way. “
The Rev. Meredith T. Heffner
Associate Rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Alexandria, Virginia
***
“Steve has a knack for communicating his observations. Sometimes candid, sometimes profound – in either case I am drawn into his world, standing next to him as he walks the Camino de Santiago. His writing style is defined by a vivid description of details and events and their application to a transcendent purpose. Having walked the Camino de Santiago several times, I enjoy the familiar backdrop as he tells his tale of being human and evolving throughout his journey.”
Brad Genereux
Author, A SOLDIER TO SANTIAGO
Mount Vernon, Ohio
***
“Steve redefines what ‘strong’ means as he takes you on a visual journey of compassion and his deep desire to understand how we fit in the world. He approaches his storytelling with an innocence that is captivating and rich; only Steve can take several seemingly meaningless moments in time and can turn them in to something so much more. He will challenge you to pause, think, and consider just about anything, and while he does that it seems like he is right next to the reader in that precise moment in time feeling exactly what you are feeling. We can only wait and wonder what Steve will come up with next.”
Michelle B. Coleman
Communication Professor & Fellow Adventurer
Dayton, Ohio
***
“I simply love the stunning honesty in Steve’s work. I often hear the term “brutal honesty,” but that’s not reflective of Steve’s writing. There is nothing brutal at all. Not a harsh, judgmental, word. The quality of which I speak is just breathtaking reality, devoid of any pretense or affectation. He says what he believes, what he feels, what he thinks, with a disarming, refreshing, and utterly heart-warming authenticity. I cannot help but be drawn into his work, and through his words into his very real life.”
Keith Richardson
Lead Pastor, First Baptist Church
Barnwell, South Carolina
***
“It’s not Everest. It’s a walk, if a very long, demanding one. But the author’s sure journalistic hand takes us along on the adventure–a journey of mind and emotion as much as the miles themselves. The plain directness of his observations becomes quickly seductive as Watkins brings us the details of his journey, from blizzards and blisters to the characters he meets on the trail. We’re there. We come to know the land, the people, we hear conversations, we feel moments of pain, panic, relief, joy, and insight. Steve Watkins has created a travelogue, in an old and original sense of that term, rich in outward detail and inner contemplation. Walk with him. It’s a journey worth taking.”
Bradley Harris
Goodbook Communications Group
Memphis, Tennessee
***
“I follow Steve’s blog and don’t always agree with him on opinion, but God, I love the writing. It takes me away. Takes me just to where he is, and with the people he describes. It’s exactly what a good writer does.”
Kathy McKleskey
Member, American Pilgrims on Camino (APOC)
Tallahassee, Florida
Steve Watkins Media 