Memoir Synopsis
Forward On: Warrior to Wanderer
By: Jean-Paul Courville
This is not just a trail memoir—it’s a raw, unfiltered journey of a man carrying far more than a pack through the Appalachian Mountains. Haunted by war, reshaped by loss, and driven by a desperate need to confront himself, former Marine Sergeant Major Jean-Paul Courville sets out alone to hike the Appalachian Trail.
From cold mountain mornings to silent nights haunted by memories of Iraq, Forward On weaves the relentless physical grind of long-distance hiking with the crushing emotional weight of combat, family, faith, and personal failure. It’s a story of survival and struggle, of fractures and forgiveness.With biting humor, brutal honesty, and surprising tenderness, Courville shares encounters with wild animals, fellow hikers, and the ghosts that trail him still. He wrestles with the guilt of survival, the ache of fatherhood, the pull of sin and grace—and the haunting question of what it truly means to come home.
This memoir is about the rugged terrain inside us all—the wounds we carry, the bridges we burn or build, the nights when memories threaten to overwhelm, and the mornings when sunrise offers a fragile chance at healing.
Forward On:
Doesn’t just walk the trail—it walks through trauma, recovery, ego, faith, failures, family, and reinvention.
Embeds hard-earned life lessons into the journey—not by listing rules or bullet points, but by showing the cracks, setbacks, and climbs that forged those lessons.
Combines three layers of experience: physical (the hike), psychological (PTSD, family tension, personal choices), and philosophical (faith, mortality, legacy).
For anyone who’s ever tried to outrun their past, faced themselves in the silence, or rebuilt their spirit one hard step at a time, Forward On offers more than a hike. It offers a way through—an unflinching, powerful journey of endurance, redemption, and the wilderness within.
