baltimore jack has died / pr contacts thru facebook i have been called from tasmania austraila portland oregon to ralliegh north carolina …miss janet told me 2 weeks ago that he [jack] didn’t look good i saw him a week &a half ago public record / macon funeral home franklin n.c. confirmed doublehealer10@yahoo.com
champney
What a terrible lose to the Appalachian Trail community. I contacted the funeral home and they confirmed that Jack Tralin’s body was brought in on Wednesday May, 4th. Family members are making funeral arrangement and will sent out an obituary soon.
I am sure there will be countless stories about Jack. I would like to start off with his trail name. Baltimore Jack. Bruce Springsteen wrote a great song in 1980 that was the number one single on the album “The River”. It was ‘Hungry Heart’, The title is drawn from a line in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s famous poem “Ulysses”: “For always roaming with a hungry heart”. The song started out with:
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going
It ends with:
Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don’t make no difference what nobody says
Ain’t nobody like to be alone
Jack rest in peace, my friend. You will never be alone.
Canoeman
My apologies Jack. I misspelled/mis-typed your last name. It is Jack Tarlin, from Hanover, NH and parts unknown. RIP
Canoeman
Met him last year (2015). Saw him several times along the trail. Quite a character. I said, “So you are the Legendary Baltimore Jack”, his reply, which sounded defensive was, “I am NOT LEGENDARY”. Fine fellow, he’ll be missed.
R.I.P. Baltimore
Gorp-Gobbler
What a sad thing. He was at this year’s Thanksgiving Feast in Hot Springs and seemed just fine. People remembered him so well they even remembered where they were when they talked to him. One of a kind. Always my friend.
angel apple
So sorry to read of his passing…met him in VA on my 2000 hike…also at AT Conservancy meeting in Vermont…I think when I met him, it was his 7th time on the trail.
Geezer
We first met Jack Tarlin in 2005. He was quite unforgettable. We bumped into him from time to time and always enjoying talking with him. This is very sad. So young and he meant so much to the AT community.
Proud to have know you Jack, where ever you are.
rocky & swamp fox