Let The Wind Push Us Across

In 1976, Jane Schapiro and her sister bicycled across the country. Carrying their packed bikes over the rocky shore of Seaside, Oregon, they dipped their rear wheels in the Pacific. Eleven weeks and 3500 miles later they arrived at Crescent Beach, Florida, where they dipped their front wheels in the Atlantic. In between, they crossed the Rockies, pedaled into the Texas Panhandle's cold winds, and faced both the warmth and bigotry of the Deep South. The sisters saw an America that few young women witnessed in the 1970's. With no cell phone or Internet, they became fully immersed in the surrounding world. Along the way, people would repeatedly ask them why. Why would two girls take to the road on their bikes? After nearly 40 years, Schapiro offers her answer. Through poems and photographs, she chronicles their trip, evoking both the internal and external landscapes they experienced along the way. Let The Wind Push Us Across captures the spirit of adventure and the exhilaration she felt each morning when unzipping the tent she "leaned into the world."

About the Author :
Jane Schapiro is the author of a volume of poetry, Tapping This Stone (Washington Writers' Publishing House, 1995) and the nonfiction book, Inside a Class Action: The Holocaust and the Swiss Banks (University of Wisconsin, 2003), selected for the Notable Trials Library. Her chapbook Mrs. Cave's House won the 2012 Sow's Ear Poetry Chapbook competition. Her poems have appeared in publications such as The American Scholar, Christian Science Monitor, The Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, The Southern Review, The Sun, Women's Review of Books, and Yankee. She is an academic tutor in the Athletic Department of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Her website is www.janeschapiro.com

Review :
Why would two sisters drop out of college and bicycle 3500 miles across America? Let the Wind Push Us Across awakens in us the transformational power of holding fast to one's dream, not quitting, and going for it no matter what. Determined to dip their tires in the Pacific and 11 weeks later in the Atlantic, the sisters saw an America that few young women witnessed in the 1970s. Before GPS navigation, the Internet and cell phones, this was a remarkable accomplishment. Forty years later, Jane Schapiro recalls the epic ride in poems, philosophical observations, and photographs. Her book is a tour de force, a heart-felt literary achievement. Poignant and refreshing, it is mandatory reading for those who believe that Adventure is not found in a guidebook and Beauty is not on the map. - Renny Russell, author of On the Loose and Rock Me on the Water