This writer (Mike is fine) finished college in the spring of 1970, then with a pack on his back, hitch hiked to New York, flew across the Atlantic, and started hitching around Europe, then across Asia using mostly his thumb, to India and Nepal.  That first real trip abroad was the very beginning of the desire to do some writing about travel and/or mountaineering.

In the beginning, Mike was using a little guidebook titled, Guide to the World’s Mountains.  It had 244 pages and was written by a retired US Army guy who used military hops to get around the world.  Mike used that book for the first 3 or 4 trips overseas, then in about 1975, decided he had as much if not more material than that book, so why not do another one that’s bigger and better.  This was the beginning of Kelsey Publishing.

From that point on, all travels were not only for an adventure to see the world, but for climbing every mountain possible, and then write about it.  The end result was a book, Climber’s and Hiker’s Guide to the World’s Mountains & Volcanos. which was written and published by this writer Michael R. Kelsey.   The 1st Edition came out in 1981 and had 680 pages; the 2nd Edition had 800 pages; the 3rd Edition, 928 pages, and sold for US$36.95.  It took 7-8 years to sell all 5000 copies of that book.  Then finally in 2001, the 4th Edition came out–about 4 months before the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.  Unfortunately, and because America supports Israel and Zionism–which was the reason for the attacks on 9/11–world travel has declined especially for Americans, and sales of all guidebooks dealing with world travel, now fly like a lead balloon.  And the recovery is nowhere is sight.  As long as the American-Israeli alliance is alive and well, world travel like the kind this writer used to enjoy, is all but dead in a large part of the world.

But the 4th Edition, which has 1248 pages (584 maps, 650 B+W fotos, perfect bound, 14cm x 21cm (5 1/2” x 8 1/2”) format, 5 cms (2 inches) thick. ISBN 0-944510-18-3) and is of much better quality than the 3rd Edition, is still available at US$36.95  and may never sell out as long as this mountaineer, now canyoneer, is still alive!

Going back in time a little, Mike eventually got into hiking the canyons of southeastern Utah.  That started in about the late 1970’s.  This led to writing and publishing a number of other books on that region.   Best known of the group is the Non-Technical Canyon Guide to the Colorado Plateau, now in its 6th Edition.