Water Lines

Riverhorse Nakadate is an angler, musician, conservationist and lifelong nomad, and Water Lines gathers thirty-two of his essays about the places where he has spent his time near water. He paddles, hikes, casts, surfs and canoes his way from the alpine lakes of Colorado to the salt marshes of his native Texas, the trout streams of Minnesota and the mangrove swamps of the Yucatán.

The pieces range from the comic to the heartbreaking. In one he chases redfish through a hurricane. In others he rescues baby squirrels and migrating monarch butterflies, or marks his mother's memory with a canoe ride and a slice of sweet-potato pie. Along the way he writes about solitude, friendship and loss, and about the encounters with wildlife, other anglers and strangers on the road that turn into reflections on connection and resilience.

Water in all its forms runs through the collection: river, rain, surf and snowmelt. Nakadate holds that wilderness is a necessity rather than a luxury, and he pays tribute to the people who quietly work to protect wild places. His prose is detailed and sensory, with a philosophical streak.

Conservation is a steady concern. He writes about the threatened Boundary Waters and the shark-finning crisis in the Gulf, and he sees how fragile these ecosystems are. Still, he stays hopeful, trusting that small acts, such as releasing one fish or defending one river, can spread further than they seem to.

The book is about more than fishing or travel. It makes the case for living deliberately and paying close attention to the rhythms of the natural world, and it will suit readers who like the nature writing of Edward Abbey, Barry Lopez, Mary Oliver and Jim Harrison.