Tom Brown

Tom Brown, Jr. (born January 29, 1950) is an American naturalist, wilderness tracker and the author of numerous books, including a series of Field Guides. Brown attributes his tracking skills and his spiritual philosophy to the teachings of a Lipan Apache elder named Stalking Wolf, who instructed Brown during his childhood. Brown refers to Stalking Wolf as "Grandfather" in his writings.^[1]

Biography

Brown was born on January 29, 1950 in Toms River, New Jersey, and graduated from Toms River High School in 1968. Brown claims that from the age of seven he was schooled in the arts of tracking, wilderness survival and awareness by his friend Rick's grandfather, a Lipan Apache elder and scout called Stalking Wolf. ^[2] According to Brown, Stalking Wolf later died when Brown was 17 and Rick was killed in a horse riding accident in Europe shortly thereafter. ^[2] For the next ten years, Brown writes that he lived almost exclusively in the wilderness of the United States using few manufactured tools to survive.

Brown claims that when he returned to civilization, he set out to find people who were interested in the skills he had developed through first-hand experience with nature. He initially met with little success, but was eventually called on to locate a missing person ^[3], and since then he has been widely known as "the Tracker." Building upon this reputation, Brown developed his profession as a full-time tracker by locating lost persons, dangerous animals and fugitives from the law.^[4]

Tracker School

Tom Brown's Tracking, Nature and Wilderness Survival School is located in New Jersey.^[5] Most classes offered by Tracker School are held in 'Primitive Camp' which is located in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. However, classes are also offered in California and Florida.^[5] The school teaches wilderness skills and emphasizes a natural way of living.

All students that attend Tracker School begin with the 'Standard' class, which serves as a foundation for future, more advanced skills to be built upon. Standard class involves very basic instruction in carving, building a primitive shelter, safe procurement and treatment of water, various fire-making techniques such as bowdrill, mouth-drill and hand-drill, making cordage (rope) from natural materials, trap-building, flint-knapping, camouflage, stalking, brain tanning, cooking, plant studies, throwing stick handling, awareness and tracking. Tracking is broken up into two main sections: pressure release studies and sign tracking.

Books and film

Brown has written 17 books to date. Brown's first book (The Tracker, published in 1978) chronicled his coming of age under Stalking Wolf's tutelage. Reader's Digest ran a condensed version of the story and printed information about Brown's new Tracker School. Later books include Grandfather, The Way of the Scout, and a series of wilderness field guides.

His first audio book "Grandfather," was released in September, 2007.

Film

Brown was the technical advisor for the film The Hunted starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro. ^[6]

Controversies

Brown's biography and skills have come under fire.^{[citation needed][who?]} The main reason being he has not provided any verifiable evidence of his teacher or his stories.^{[citation needed]} Also, representatives of the Native American anti-cultural appropriation organization New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans have repeatedly denounced Brown as a fraud.^[7]

Brown claims that he can, for example, detect a person suffering from a cold based on their tracks, or to tell from tracks when an animal has a full stomach or needs to urinate. His book The Science and Art of Tracking explains these techniques, but often points to minute details, a number of which are difficult to see by most people.^[8]

There is little, if any, independent documentation in print on Rick (Brown's childhood friend who died at a young age), on Stalking Wolf, or on Brown's lone adventures away from society.

Tom Brown's brother, Dr. Jim Brown, the Dean of Science, Engineering, Health Sciences and Human Performance and former President and Chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Public Health Association confirms Tom Brown's biography but does not provide any evidence outside of his testimony. Dr. Jim Brown writes in the Biography of Dr. Jim Brown:

Tom, his friend Rick and Rick’s grandfather, Stalking Wolf (a native American and an expert in the Wilderness) were a huge influence on me and helped develop my love for nature. I use many of these experiences to enrich my teaching of biology and microbiology. Tom’s incredible abilities for teaching nature observation, pointing out minute details and relating them to plant or animal anatomy, physiology and ecological relationships strongly influenced my teaching style especially using the laboratory, and real life experiences, to reinforce learning in the classroom^[9]

References

External links

• The Tracker School site
• Tracker Trail website: Comprehensive and largest source of information about Tom Brown Jr on the internet (interviews, controversies etc.)
• Old Site of the Tracker School (circa 1999)

In the Media:

• CBS News 6 December 2006
• CBS News 24 June 2005

Articles Written by Brown for Mother Earth News:

• Shelter (Issue 71, 1981)
• Water (Issue 72, 1981)
• Fire (Issue 73, 1982)
• Hunting & Traps (Issue 74, 1982)
• Edible Plants (Issue 75, 1982)
• Survival Cooking (Issue 76, 1982)
• Animal Tracking (Issue 77, 1982)
• Making Natural Cordage (Issue 79, 1983)
• Be a Back-to-Basics Bowyer (Issue 87, 1984)
• Basic Skills & Lost Proofing (Issue 93, 1985)
• Advanced Survival Shelters (Issue 95, 1985)