Rock Me on the Water: A Life on the Loose
Renny Russell's Rock Me on the Water is at its heart courageous. To return to the same power of nature that took his brother thirty years previous to be with it, to confront it, to take solace in it, and to be inspired and healed by it is remarkable in itself. His book is, as well, a testament to the evocative rhythms of the wilds. In this complicated dance, profoundly personal journey, Renny Russell also gives us an amazingly spirited tour of one of the truly great landscapes of the American West and a keen understanding of its power to shape a life.   Robert Redford. --Book jacketFinally, we have the gift of Renny Russell's raw, honest voice once again, after On the Loose shaped and influenced an entire generation. We return to the fluid landscape of the Green River, where Renny's brother Terry Russell, drowned. This poignant memoir fills in the gaps, opens our eyes to grief and love and the profound healing nature of wild country. We see how two brothers found their passion in the heart of the Colorado Plateau as our nation was at war in Vietnam. And we see how the brother who is left behind moves forward in time by honoring history, both personal and gelogic, not as a distraction but as a handhold to the continuity of life. Renny Russell has written his way back home. His explorations on the page become an open door to the beauty of one wild heart.    Terry Tempest Williams, author, The Open Space of Democracy and Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. --Book jacketIn the '60S Renny Russell and his late brother Terry co-authored On the Loose, a paean to wild places that became the touchstones of the environmental movement. Four decades later, Renny Russell has written a raw, soul-searching, searingly heartfelt companion volume, Rock Me on he Water. A bittersweet meditation on family and loss and the myriad ways in which unspoiled country can shape a life, this book will resonate with wrenching power for anyone touched by On the Loose.     Jon Krakauer, author, Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven. --Book jacket