Lessons from the River: Whitewater Canoeing and Camping on Maine's Rivers

This is a book of lessons learned from whitewater wilderness canoeing, especially canoe camping, mostly on Maine rivers, as well as one trip on the Rio Grande in Texas. I believe it will be useful to canoeists and non-canoeists alike, as the lessons I’ve learned are life lessons we all learn. It’s a book about my river experience and how I apply that to my daily life. It will include canoe technique, suggestions to make your canoe trip enjoyable, survival skills, how to listen to the river, how to respond to your concerns on the river, and what the river can teach you.


This book will have a mixture of practice river and canoeing advice, personal stories, poetry, history, autobiography, a journal of a trip on the St. Croix River, an advocacy for canoeing, with lots of tips and lessons on how to have a great canoe trip and also live a more enjoyable life. It will includes hundreds of canoe, camping and nature photographs I’ve taken over the last 25 years on my canoe trips. I want to give you a feel for the joy of my river experiences. Most of the pictures are of me or friends on my trips particularly on the St. Croix River, and the Moose, Allagash, St. John, Machias, East Penobscot and Sebois Rivers.