On the Big Rivers: From Three Forks, Montana to New Orleans, Louisiana

Product Description

Canoeing from the source of the Missouri River high in the mountains of the Continental Divide down the rapids and over the dams of the upper Missouri to its confluence with the Mississippi and on down its broad waters to New Orleans, 3,800 miles, two young men undertake a voyage of adventure that every young person talks about, but few take. Travel with them in a time before cell phones and GPS as they are initiated into the age old perils of nature and explore the historic river towns along their route. Experience through vivid, first person story telling, the physical and emotional challenges they meet and overcome in their encounters on this pioneering journey down the two greatest rivers of America. This exciting narrative provides not only a pristine view of the beauties of these rivers as they were fifty years ago, but also dramatizes the damage we have done in contaminating, straightening, and commercializing our once bounteous water resources. Share this dream of inspiring adventure and experience the pioneering spirit that still lives in every young heart.

About the Author

Richard E. Messer earned his Ph.D. at the University of Denver. He has pursued post-graduate work in Analytical Psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht, near Zurich. A poet, fiction writer, and literary critic, he is a Professor Emeritus of English at Bowling Green State University. His work has appeared in many journals, including
The Nation, Psychological Perspectives, The Sun, and
The Black Warrior Review. He is the author of three books of poetry,
Murder in the Family, (1995) which was awarded the Nancy Dasher award by the College English Association,
A Life on Earth, (2006) and most recently
Dark Healing, published by il piccolo editions in November 2013.