To see him ski is to see fluidity, as if he were a droplet of water trickling down a rough plaster wall.

He loved to ski barefoot and enjoyed making his own skis. He would soak boards in water, and put them on blocks. Then he would drive his model A car up on them and let it sit while they dried. It would form a curve in them. He loved the outdoors.

I grew up seeing this creek every day and learning how to ice skate, swim, water ski, do everything on this creek. I want her to be able to do the same, but it just doesn't look like it did.

[A sane person would have turned down the assignment.] And all this risk for what? ... To satisfy my selfish sense of curiosity? To write a magazine article?

How much of Africa had been explored out of simple hatred?

At the Mercy of the River: An Exploration of the Last African Wilderness.