WRRC Special Event: Brave the Wild River - Reading and Book Signing

Please join us for this WRRC Special Event to celebrate the release of Melissa L. Sevigny’s new book, Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon. Evocative and beautifully written, Brave the Wild River chronicles the history-making journey of botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter through the Grand Canyon in the summer of 1938. These two intrepid women led an expedition to “botanize” the beautiful and bizarre plant life of this then little-known corner of the American West. With its surges of snowmelt, muddy landslides carrying boulders and debris, frothy whirlpools, and perilous waves, the Colorado River was considered the most dangerous river in the world, and at the time only a handful of men, and no women, had survived a boat journey through the Grand Canyon. Brave the Wild River is a loving tribute to two remarkable women—who valued their curiosity about the world more than their presumed place in it—and the adventure of a lifetime. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa L. Sevigny is a science journalist at KNAU (Arizona Public Radio). Sevigny currently resides in Flagstaff, Arizona, and has worked in the specialized areas of water policy, sustainable agriculture, and space exploration. She is also the author of Under Desert Skies and Mythical River, which was recognized by the 2015 Ellen Meloy Award for Desert Writers, 2016 Southwest Books of the Year, 2017 Viola Award, and 2017 John Burroughs Association “Nature Book of Uncommon Merit.”

Host or Publisher UArizona Water Resources Research Center