Who Is Franz Otto
I first read about Franz Otto on the tree planter hall of fame. I thought that I was pretty hot shit as a planter, and I was very excited to learn about all of the other "hot shit" planters out there. Franz stood out from the other people in the hall of fame because of the tone of his nominations. People spoke of him with real excitement and reverence, most admitting that they did not even know who he was, that they hadn't met him.
Also, his picture and his name seemed very mysterious. What did he look like? Where was he from? Had he emerged from somewhere in the Black Forrest, come to BC to do the West Coast Trail (which, I have heard, is very German heavy), and found self actualization and a life's work on the side of a highway one day?
The name, "Franz Otto" to me, began to conjure the most terrifying and willful notions of "Germanness", or "Germanity" (I am thinking now of figures like Werner Herzhog, or Arnold Schwarzennegger, or perhaps a cross between the two, with the 'madness' of a Klaus Kinski). Thoughts of him became a motivating force in the days at work.
The idea of Franz Otto eventually produced enough sustained excitement that I felt I had to track him down and document him for historical posterity (if nothing else).
-Adam Humphreys 2010
Also, his picture and his name seemed very mysterious. What did he look like? Where was he from? Had he emerged from somewhere in the Black Forrest, come to BC to do the West Coast Trail (which, I have heard, is very German heavy), and found self actualization and a life's work on the side of a highway one day?
The name, "Franz Otto" to me, began to conjure the most terrifying and willful notions of "Germanness", or "Germanity" (I am thinking now of figures like Werner Herzhog, or Arnold Schwarzennegger, or perhaps a cross between the two, with the 'madness' of a Klaus Kinski). Thoughts of him became a motivating force in the days at work.
The idea of Franz Otto eventually produced enough sustained excitement that I felt I had to track him down and document him for historical posterity (if nothing else).
-Adam Humphreys 2010
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