Susan Billingsley - Grand Canyon River Guides

he sleeps on pristine beaches; he is threatened by a bear.Memories are awakened and flow through him and ontothe pages of Rock Me on the Water. We are with Rennyand Terry as they encounter rattlesnakes and lightninglitfires while climbing the rugged Santa Rose Mountainsof Southern California during the mid-’50s; with themagain in the late ’50s as they are shaped by summersspent in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Monument withtheir eccentric aunt (a landscape painter) and uncle (hedrew Batman and Superman comics) and their likenaturedfriends (including Georgie White and HarryAleson, renowned river runners; Manx Ernst, a groundbreakingsurreal artist; Dean Brimhall, a retired teacher;and author Charles Kelly, the monument’s first custodian).We see Glen Canyon before it was drowned by amisguided dam project; revisit the tumultuous FreeSpeech Movement in Berkeley; experience life as a riverguide (Russell guided on the Colorado River through theGrand Canyon for 25 years); discover how On the Loosewas created and then birthed into publication; witnessthe details surrounding Terry’s disappearance on theGreen River; relive the colorful history of those whohave also run Russell’s beloved Green; and so muchmore. During the entire journey, Terry’s vital andpowerful spirit is omnipresent.As with On the Loose, Rock Me on the Water’s imagesand words touch something deep within and urge us toexperience nature’s eloquence. Russell hopes that RockMe on the Water will offer the reader more than vicariousadventure. Rather it is an invitation, as he puts it, “toget off the couch, to leave the well-traveled trail, anddiscover your own wild places.” He hopes his story willinspire others to transform tragedy and loss into art andbeauty.This artful work will be available in bookstores, onAmazon.com, and through www.rennyrussell.com inSeptember 2007. The book measures 8 1⁄2 x 11 incheswith 126 color photos, 72 black and white photos, 38color illustrations, 2 maps and four-color interior. Paperbound—$29.95, isbn-13: 978-09760539-1-0; Clothbound—$39.95, isbn-13: 978-09760539-0-3; Slipcasedcollector’s edition—$149, isbn-13: 978-09760539-2-7.from press releaseDamming Grand Canyon: The 1923 usgs Colorado RiverExpedition, by Diane E. Boyer and Robert H. WebbThe 1923 survey led by Claude Birdseye andmanned by a colorful cast of characters managedto advance scientific knowledge of the ColoradoRiver through Grand Canyon, maybe more completelyand accurately than ever before. This expedition fueledthe debate—in the wake of the Colorado RiverCompact—over how best to store and use the river’swater; have its fair share of thrilling river-running experiences;and leave written records that are both informativeand dramatic.Contact Utah State University Press for a copy: 800-621-2736. The book measures 6 x 9 inches, 280 pages.Cloth bound—$34.95, isbn 978-0-87421-660-8.from press releaseGeology Underfoot in Northern Arizona, by LonAbbott and Terri CookGeologists Lon Abbott and Terri Cook wantyou to take a hike—or at least a stroll—toexplore northern Arizona’s amazing rocks andlandforms. In Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona,newly published by Mountain Press Publishingpage 16grand canyon river guides