Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache La Poudre

by Gary Wockner (Editor), Rick Bass (Foreword), Laura Pritchett (Editor)

Dam and reservoir projects threaten the Poudre. Authors tell stories of why it is worth fighting for. Gary Wockner and Laura Pritchett

197 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

Author Laura Pritchett recommended this as part of the Rocky Mountain Land Library's "A Reading List For the President Elect: A Western Primer for the Next Administration".

[David Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pulse of the River" is a curated collection of 37 poems, essays, and short stories focused on the Cache la Poudre River, which flows out of Rocky Mountain National Park and onto the plains of eastern Colorado, where it joins the South Platte River. The river flows through Fort Collins, Colorado, where many of the writers live. Because the river's flow is completely allocated for irrigated agriculture and urban uses, natural flow in the channel is endangered and proposals for even more dams and diversions continue to threaten the river's integrity. Fortunately, along much of its length north and west of Fort Collins, the river flows through a canyon where it is protected by a National Wild and Scenic River designation. Most of the writers are inspired to write about this, the relatively untamed, section of the river.

At least half the contributions to this collection are poems. I confess, up front, that I don't read much poetry, so I honestly can't evaluate the quality of the verse in this collection. Many of the poets have been published in literary journals and their work may have merit but, with one exception, I didn't appreciate these poems. The one I did enjoy was John Calderazzo's "Highway Flagman."

The collection contains one legitimate fictional short story, David Rozgonyi's "The Postcard," which I highly recommend. Some of the other contributions contain a mixture of fictional and real elements.

The majority of the prose contributions are essays. The best are by Gary Wockner, Paul Miller, J.D. Phillips, Cynthia Melcher, Ellen Wohl, and Mark Easter.

This book likely would appeal most strongly to readers in northern Colorado who are familiar with the Cache la Poudre River. However, nearly any reader likely would enjoy the best of the essays I cited above because of their universal themes and good writing.

[Lauren M · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a connection to the Poudre, or any river really, this is THE book! An anthology collection of poems, prose, and advocacy for one of the best rivers out there. I already had a deep love of the Poudre and it’s canyon, and this book was like reading a celebration and reflection of this love. Pro tip: Pulse of the River is appreciated ten-fold when read laying down next to the Poudre, head upstream, feet downstream.

[abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

really solid anthology. I love you dear poudre