Conflating homelessness, mental illness, and eccentricity with reclusion is illustrated by several sites about “The Leatherman,” a nineteenth-century hermit and eccentric in Westchester County, New York, so called because of his attire and interest in leather items. The conflation is furthered by adding details about his enormous appetite and by ghost sightings. URLs: http://www.trailsidemuseum.org/Leatherman.html, http://www.bearsystems.com/OldLeatherMan/OldLeatherMan.htm, (with photo), and http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/briarcliff/leather.html.
Southern California hermits
In this Los Angeles Times article, the author reflects on the “hermit of Tahquitz” and other colorful hermits who have recently populated the desert canyons of southern California. URL: http://www.latimes.com/features/outdoors/la-os-wildwest22feb22,
1,5376597.story?coll=la-headlines-outdoors&ctrack=1&cset=true.
Georgiou re Robert Lax
SFGate.com interview with Steve Georgiou, author of The Way of the Dreamcatcher, on his spirituality and on his mentor Robert Lax, the poet-hermit. URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/02/15/findrelig.DTL. See also the Hermitary article on Robert Lax.
California recluse-woodcarver
Intriguing article about John McAbery, a reclusive artist-woodcarver living by the ocean in a rugged stretch of northern California. He lives in a cabin, without technology or people to be seen. URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mcabery31jan31
,0,2811129.story?coll=la-home-headlines.
Maryland hermit: J. D. Walker
In this pleasant Quest Magazine article (Theosophical Society in America), J. D. Walker, who describes herself as an artist in the Chinese ink painting tradition and a hermit in the Tibetan Drikung Kagyud tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, discusses hermitage literature and the wisdom of hermits. URL: http://www.theosophical.org/theosophy/questmagazine/mayjune2001/walker/. Brought to our attention by a friend of Hermitary.