In the late 1950's John Graves revisited a 175 mile stretch of the Brazos River before proposed dam construction forever submerged his childhood stomping grounds. Undertaken in a canoe with his dachshund companion Goodbye To A River is an engrossing commentary on the river, nature, and Texas history and culture. Today it is cherished as a uniquely voiced history of the state and lauded as a conservation-minded work ahead of its time
It appeals to me for the rugged outfit he embarks with, i.e. no hi-tech synthetics, no ultralight gear, no GPS, etc, but only the waxed cotton canvas and woolens of the day, wood paddles, metal cookware - and daunted not a bit!
More recently Graves teamed up with photographer Wyman Meinzer to document Texas landscape features in Texas Hill Country and Texas Rivers. Texas Sky is Meinzer's solo effort. All published by the ever-interesting U. T. Austin Press, one of the best resources for American Southwest culture and home of the Perry-Casteneda Library Map Collection, a comprehensive and very useful archive.
2/5/14 Post Script: sadly, I recently learned that John Graves passed away last summer. NPR posted this tribute: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/31/207309842/texas-author-john-graves-dies-at-92-wrote-goodbye-to-a-river
It appeals to me for the rugged outfit he embarks with, i.e. no hi-tech synthetics, no ultralight gear, no GPS, etc, but only the waxed cotton canvas and woolens of the day, wood paddles, metal cookware - and daunted not a bit!
More recently Graves teamed up with photographer Wyman Meinzer to document Texas landscape features in Texas Hill Country and Texas Rivers. Texas Sky is Meinzer's solo effort. All published by the ever-interesting U. T. Austin Press, one of the best resources for American Southwest culture and home of the Perry-Casteneda Library Map Collection, a comprehensive and very useful archive.
2/5/14 Post Script: sadly, I recently learned that John Graves passed away last summer. NPR posted this tribute: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/31/207309842/texas-author-john-graves-dies-at-92-wrote-goodbye-to-a-river
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