Swimming Lessons: Life Lessons from the Pool, from Diving in to Treading Water

by Penelope Niven, Jim Nocito (Illustrator)

At age forty-four, Penelope Niven was at a turning point in her life. In need of a change for both body and spirit, she decided to learn how to swim. While discovering the restorative effect of the water, she also began to notice that the lessons she was learning in the pool drew remarkable parallels with the lessons of life. The way in which you first get into the water, for example, is similar to trying anything new-you can jump in feet first, or dive in headfirst, but first you have to have some idea of what you're actually getting into. From floating to treading water, forward strokes to the backstroke, Swimming Lessons combines the familiar lessons of swimming with personal anecdotes and apt observations to stirring effect. Sensible, touching, and personal, this appealing book will be invaluable to any reader facing a life change or simply looking for a little bit of inspiration.

A Harvest Original

195 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2004

About the author

Penelope Niven is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of poet Carl Sandburg and photographer Edward Steichen. Her books include CARL SANDBURG: A BIOGRAPHY; STEICHEN: A BIOGRAPHY; VOICES AND SILENCES, co-authored with the actor James Earl Jones, and praised as a classic on acting; and SWIMMING LESSONS, a memoir. Her Steichen biography has just been translated into Chinese. CARL SANDBURG: ADVENTURES OF A POET, her biography for children, was awarded an International Reading Association Prize "for exceptionally distinguished literature for children," one of six books honored among publications from 99 countries. She is presently working on a biography of Thornton Wilder, to be published in 2012 by HarperCollins.

She has been awarded two honorary doctorates, three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Thornton Wilder Visiting Fellowship at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, among other honors. She received the North Carolina Award in Literature, the highest honor the state bestows on an author. During the past twenty years she has lectured across the United States and in Switzerland, Canada and Wales, and has served as an editor for various publications and a consultant for television films on Sandburg, Jones, and Steichen. She has recently retired after twelve years as Writer-in-Residence at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Penelope Niven is the mother of award-winning author Jennifer Niven (THE ICE MASTER; ADA BLACKJACK: A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE ARCTIC; VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO DRIVE; THE AQUA-NET DIARIES; and VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO FLY.)

Reviews

[Gail Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

did not do the exercises but did like the thoughts.

[Kathy Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of inspirational writing but my daughter gave this to me for Christmas. As I'm a swimmer, and swimming techniques are Niven's metaphors for coping with life and its difficulties, I actually found inspiration in this book. It's well-written, and Niven encourages a positive attitude in her readers without insisting that those readers wear blinders blocking their vision of the negatives in life.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great advice and words of wisdom. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I didn't find myself drawn back to it very often, so it took me a long time to finish.