This month I am out, listening to mountains and rivers tell stories, rather than toiling in front of a computer. Hopefully, I am days from a car right now. Scheduling posts is among the technological developments I appreciate most. The support from you, this Substack community, has been a tremendous boon to my writing this summer, both directly in this space and the stories that I will share in the future elsewhere. Your commitment to subscribe, or even pay, has increased my commitment to sharing.
I gravitate toward ultra-endurance writing projects: long lead journalism and creative non-fiction books. Thereβs no instant reward for this type of work. Although it allows me to deeply investigate and immerse myself in stories, I often worry that people will lose interest by the time I am ready to release them into the wild. Most writers have insecurities such as these, and in this space, I have opportunities to share my Wild Words in between the distant deadlines and release dates.
Itβs one of my greatest joys to read the work of other authors who have subjected themselves to the same grueling toil that is writing books. When I hold a pre-released or just released copy in my hands, I half expect it to cry like a baby, having only recently left the incubating care of its author parent.
This month, I received two new books that I am eager to share with you!
Life After Dead Pool By Zak Podmore
I read an early printed manuscript (aka a large stack of word processor paper) of Zakβs book alongside a Glen Canyon tributary and could not put it down. Admittedly, I am among the people with canyonitis, a condition diagnosed by Katie Lee, which he writes about. Exploring the Glen Canyon landscape, its history, and politics has consumed my life for the last 8 years. While many will read this book to learn about the place, I read to enjoy somebody elseβs perspective, and in this case another adventurous writer! This is a must-read for anyone bitten by the canyon bug. It was an honor to contribute a back-of-book blurb:
After decades of drought, the American West is stretched to the breaking point. A changing climate and design flaws in the Glen Canyon Dam have pushed the once-massive Lake Powell reservoir to the brink of collapseβputting at risk millions of people who depend on the Colorado River for water, agriculture, and electricity. Now, as Glen Canyon reemerges, its surprising ecological rebirth reminds us that natureβs capacity to heal may well outpace our own imaginations.
Environmental journalist Zak Podmore explores the complex challenges ahead and reframes the inevitable loss of Lake Powell as a turning point for a more sustainable future. Through an arresting mix of science and storytelling, Life After Dead Pool debunks the notion that the Westβs water challenges are unsolvable and invites us to secure a future where the Colorado River once again runs free.
Becoming Little Shell: A LANDLESS INDIANβS JOURNEY HOME By Chris La Tray
I pre-ordered this book earlier this year, and I have it packed with me on this trip (in a dry bag for monsoons and river travel). I took it to read beside the river today, and could not put it downββeven as monsoon rains elevated the water levels and thunderheads barked at me to move. From what I have read, along with an excerpt for High Country News, this book is exquisite and important!
Chris La Trayβs writing first crossed my radar when writers still hung out and conversed on Twitter, before it became X. This led me to his substack, An Irritable MΓ©tis which is among the first Substacks I ever subscribed to. Everything he wrote tugged at my emotions and taught me something new (so does Becoming Little Shell). Chris is among the writers I am grateful to have connected with from afar through these strange interweb spaces. He graciously took the time to read an early manuscript of Path of Light and contribute a blurb. Thank you again, Chris!
***
Growing up in Montana, Chris La Tray always identified as Indian. Despite the fact that his father fiercely denied any connection, he found Indigenous people alluring, often recalling his grandmotherβs consistent mention of their ChippewaΒ heritage.
When La Tray attended his grandfatherβs funeral as a young man, he finally found himself surrounded by relatives who obviously were Indigenous. βWho were they?β he wondered, and βWhy was I never allowed to know them?β Combining diligent research and compelling conversations with authors, activists, elders, and historians, La Tray embarks on a journey into his familyβs past, discovering along the way a larger story of the complicated history of Indigenous communitiesβas well as the devastating effects of colonialism that continue to ripple through surviving generations. And as he comes to embrace his full identity, he eventually seeks enrollment with the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, joining their 158-year-long struggle for federalΒ recognition.
Both personal and historical, Becoming Little Shell is a testament to the power of storytelling, to family and legacy, and to finding home. Infused with candor, heart, wisdom, and an abiding love for a place and a people, Chris La Trayβs remarkable journey is both revelatory andΒ redemptive.
The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River
While reading at a cafΓ©, a man asked me what I was reading. When I held the book up, he did a double take, βInteresting choice.β But I bought this book the moment I read about it and have no regrets. As I focus much of my writing on rivers, I am interested in the ways other authors approach the subject for a popular audience. Admittedly, I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to infrastructure and regional history outside the West, so there was that too. This book kept me engaged the entire way and I learned a ton. My only wish is that Upholt writes a sequel that tells us more about his adventures paddling the lower Mississippi River and the locals he befriended. The glimpses he gives in this book are magic.
For you water obsessed folks, just read it!
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The Mississippi River lies at the heart of America, an undeniable life force that is intertwined with the nationβs culture and history. Its watershed spans almost half the country, Mark Twainβs travels on the river inspired our first national literature, and jazz and blues were born in its floodplains and carried upstream.
In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of this wild and unruly river, and the centuries of efforts to control it. Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous people who regarded βthe great riverβ with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. The river was ever-changing, and Indigenous tribes embraced and even depended on its regular flooding. But the expanse of the watershed and the rich soils of its floodplain lured European settlers and American pioneers, who had a different vision: the river was a foe to conquer.
Centuries of human attempts to own, contain, and rework the Mississippi River, from Thomas Jeffersonβs expansionist land hunger through todayβs era of environmental concern, have now transformed its landscape. Upholt reveals how an ambitious and sometimes contentious program of engineeringβgovernment-built levees, jetties, dikes, and damsβhas not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems but may not work much longer. Carrying readers along the riverβs last remaining backchannels, he explores how scientists are now hoping to restore what has been lost.
Rich and powerful, The Great River delivers a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its powerβa lesson that is all too relevant in our rapidly changing world.
Judy Blume FOREVER
A final note: shame on the state of Utah for their disappointing banned book list. Especially Judy Blumeβs coming-of-age classic Forever. This is an attack on free speech, and especially disheartening in rural Utah where libraries are few and far between. I am considering building a Banned Book Library box in front of the trailer. Iβll throw in a few books like the those on this list for good measure!
Read on! π