From one of Outside magazine's Literary All-Stars comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983.
In the spring of 1983, massive flooding along the length of the Colorado River confronted a team of engineers at the Glen Canyon Dam with an unprecedented emergency that may have resulted in the most catastrophic dam failure in history. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named the Emerald Mile at the head of the Grand Canyon, just fifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd but downright suicidal.
The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. The goal was to nail the all-time record for the fastest boat ever propelled--by oar, by motor, or by the grace of God himself--down the entire length of the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead. Did he survive? Just barely. Now, this remarkable, epic feat unfolds here, in The Emerald Mile.
About the Author :
Kevin Fedarko lives in northern New Mexico and works as a part-time river guide in Grand Canyon National Park. In addition to his travel narratives in Outside, where he worked as a senior editor, Fedarko's work has appeared in Esquire, National Geographic Adventure, and other publications and has been anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing in 2004 and 2006. Fedarko was a staff writer at Time magazine from 1991 to 1997, where his work helped garner an Overseas Press Club Award for a story on the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Fedarko earned a Master of Philosophy in Russian history at Oxford in 1990.
Paul Michael Garcia, an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and former company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, received his classical training in theater from Southern Oregon University, where he worked as an actor, director, and designer.
Review :
A great American tall tale that just happens to be true...An instant classic of adventure literature--a story shot through with bravura but also touched by the rarest kind of grandeur.
-- "Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author"
A magical convergence of words and paper, wood and water, rock and sky, human character and cosmic caprice. Can an adventure story be as beautiful as it is heart-stopping and exciting? This one is.
-- "Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author"
A labor of passion from an adventurous journalist who still calls the Grand Canyon home.
-- "Boulder Weekly"
An engrossing meditation on the eternal struggle between man and nature.
-- "Pittsburg Post-Gazette"
An epic-sized true-life adventure tale that appeals to both the heart and the head.
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Brilliant...You'll feel yourself lurching along with them on wooden boats, in ocher-hued canyons, beneath cobalt skies.
-- "Mountain magazine"
Fedarko tells a satisfying story that is quite an entertaining ride.
-- "Deseret News"
Magnificent.
-- "Cleveland Plain-Dealer"
Narrator Paul Michael Garcia grabs listeners' attention right away with his ominous tone...Garcia's graceful voice works well for the descriptions of the canyon's beauty...Garcia delivers the drama of the run itself with every word, for an edge-of-the-seat thrill.
-- "AudioFile"
Re-creates an incredible voyage through the flood-swollen Grand Canyon in such heart-pounding detail that you need to pause every few pages to catch your breath.
-- "Dallas Morning News"
The river...and the canyon, rich in both geological and political history, prove to be the real protagonists.
-- "Publishers Weekly"
Will have you poised on the edge of your seat like a high-sider at Lava Falls.
-- "Durango Telegraph"
