Watula Press

John Keatley

Bio

A native Floridian growing up along the Space Coast, John Keatley spent most of his youth in the woods or on the water, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in 1973. John Keatley Half Moon CayDuring a 33-year career on the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center, he found time between missions to unwind in the outdoors. After the program ended, he turned his decades of attention to detail and journaling towards writing about the outdoors.

A member of both the Society of American Travel Writers and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association, John is an avid paddler and a cyclist with tens of thousands of miles ridden on the East Coast. He shares his unique stories of outdoor adventure on FloridaHikes.com and in print, and his travel narratives on TrailsandTravels.com.

Books

John first jumped into book collaboration in 2012 with Five Star Trails Gainesville and Ocala, and was the genius behind a reboot of Sandra’s long history of writing Florida Trail guidebooks with the debut of The Florida Trail Guide in 2013. Since then, John has been an integral part of the team for Florida Hikes and Watula Press, expanding on both from the perspective of a lifelong cyclist and paddler.

Discovering the Florida Trail, 2020
Florida Trail Hikes, 2019
50 Hikes in Central Florida, 2018
Explorer’s Guide North Florida & Panhandle, 2018
The Florida Trail Guide, 2017
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (First Edition), 2017
The Florida Trail: Florida’s National Scenic Trail, 2016
The Florida Trail Guide (Second Edition), 2015
The Florida Trail Guide (First Edition), 2013
Five Star Trails Gainesville and Ocala, 2013

Writing Awards

Society of American Travel Writers:

  • First Place Eastern Chapter Awards, Book (2019): Explorer’s Guide North Florida & Panhandle
  • Second Place Eastern Chapter Awards, Book (2019): 50 Hikes in Central Florida
  • First Place Eastern Chapter Awards, Blog (2014): Hiker Trash

Florida Outdoor Writers Association:

North American Travel Journalists Association:

STS-7 award John Keatley

Professional Awards

Numerous professional awards for outstanding service to the Space Shuttle program

Professional / Volunteer Service

John Keatley Camp La-No-Che
John with fellow Order of the Arrow Chiefs at Camp La-No-Che

Affiliations

Long Bio

A native Floridian growing up along the Space Coast, John Keatley spent most of his youth in the woods or on the water, often with his Boy Scout troop. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 1973 and was elected to leadership positions in the Order of the Arrow as a youth.

John Keatley Space Shuttle Atlantis
John on the Space shuttle Atlantis team.
2nd from left, front row.
In 1978, John began work as part of the Space Shuttle team. During his 33 year career at Kennedy Space Center, he worked on all of the orbiters in a variety of positions, including logistics, operations, and planning. He was part of a small team that met STS-7 at its emergency landing at Edwards Air Force Base, and was the first to greet the astronauts, including Sally Ride on her first mission, after opening the hatch.

After the Shuttle program came to an end, John turned his decades of attention to detail and journaling towards writing about the outdoors. While preparing for a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail he met Sandra Friend, and they have been traveling and writing together ever since. John Keatley Lyonia Preserve In 2014, to address the need of growing a hiker community around the Florida Trail, one of America’s National Scenic Trails, John founded the nonprofit Florida Trail Hikers Alliance, an organization that celebrates and supports hiker achievements. He serves as the organization’s president.

A member of both the Society of American Travel Writers and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association, John is an avid paddler and a cyclist with tens of thousands of miles ridden on the East Coast. He shares his unique stories of outdoor adventure on FloridaHikes.com and in print, and his travel narratives on TrailsandTravels.com. John and his wife Sandra Friend work as a team on multiple websites, books, and other creative projects. They are residents of Florida’s Space Coast.