River Earth: A Personal Map

by John C. Pierce

River Earth is a personal exploration of family and community in and around the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. In these poignant essays, John Pierce probes the lifelong impact of a teenage boy's loss of a father, and how it led his own sons to a life on the river. He lifts the covers from the seeming tranquility of north Idaho's woods to reveal the personal impact of a friend's fear of racial violence. His mother's heroic lingering death forces him to confront who he is--while in the midst of a relationship that had lain dormant. Nighttime visits by Johnny Cash, two-foot long fish that don't exist, and a son who hears music in his head while wandering along Idaho's Jeru Creek all enliven and enrich this moving yet humorous book. Love, anger, wonder, a sense of place, of family, and of community, all emerge in this collection of evocative autobiographical excursions.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

John C. Pierce is Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.