This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with memoirist and renowned whitewater raft guide Bridget Crocker, author of The River’s Daughter (Spiegel & Grau).
About the book:
After Bridget Crocker’s parents’ volatile divorce, she moved with her mother from Southern California to Wyoming. Her life was idyllic, living in a trailer park on the banks of the Snake River with a stepfather she loved, a new baby brother, and the river as her companion—until her mother suddenly took up a radical new lifestyle, becoming someone Bridget barely recognized. The one constant in her life—the place Bridget felt whole and fully herself—was the river. When she discovered the world of whitewater rafting, she knew she’d found her calling.
On the river, Bridget learned to read the natural world around her and came to know the language of rivers. One of the few female guides on the Snake River, she then traveled to the Zambezi River in Africa, the most dangerous whitewater in the world, where she faced death and learned to conquer her fears—both on the water and off. The river taught her to overcome years of betrayals and abuse, to trust herself, and, finally, how to help heal her family from generational cycles of poverty and abuse.
A beautifully rendered memoir of a woman coming into her own, The River’s Daughter opens us to the possibilities of transformation through nature.
This conversation has been edited for time and contains mentions of assault and violence. Please take note and take care.
About Bridget:
Bridget Crocker is a trailblazer in women’s empowerment within the outdoor industry. A leading whitewater rafting guide, she has led remote river expeditions down many of the world’s greatest river canyons in far-flung regions of Zambia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, India, and the Western United States. She is a contributing author to Lonely Planet guidebooks and its Travel Anthology and to The Best Women’s Travel Writing series from Travelers’ Tales, and her work has been featured in magazines including Westways, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Trail Runner, Paddler, Outside, Vela, and Patagonia’s blog, The Cleanest Line, among others.
Mentioned in this episode:
Rivergods: Exploring the World’s Great Wild Rivers by Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen (Sierra Club Books)
Bridget Crocker recommends:
Rivergods: Exploring the World’s Great Wild Rivers by Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen (Sierra Club Books)
The Source of All Things by Tracy Ross (Free Press)
Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad (Ecco Press)
Go As a River by Shelley Read (Spiegel & Grau)
Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts (National Geographic)
Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson (Vintage Books)
Malama Honua: Hokule’a: A Voyage of Hope by Jennifer Allen (Patagonia Books)
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (Vintage Books)
Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo (W. W. Norton & Company)
Lauren Korn recommends:
The River’s Daughter by Bridget Crocker (Spiegel & Grau)
Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall (Harry N. Abrams)
The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life by Helen Whybrow (Milkweed Editions)
Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak by Andy Hall (Plume)
Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon by Melissa L. Sevigny (W. W. Norton & Company)
The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko (Scribner)
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The Write Question team is Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton, Montana, a literary and community resource for the Bitterroot Valley—providing space to explore, discover, and share passions since 1974. More information can be found at Chapter1Bookstore.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting The Write Question since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
