By Rick Van Noy. Cornell/Three Hills, 2024.

After a near-fatal stroke and a separation, amidst a global pandemic, Rick Van Noy decided to go for a paddle. In Borne by the River, he charts the story of discovery, and healing that came from this solo canoe journey. Paddling two hundred miles on the Delaware River to his boyhood home just upriver from Trenton, New Jersey, Van Noy contemplates his fate and life, as well as the simple joy of sitting in a small boat floating down a large river with his dog, Sully.

Deftly combining memoir, natural and local history, and engaging reportage of his encounters with other paddlers and river enthusiasts, including members of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Van Noy reveals deep and shifting layers of environmental, historical, cultural, and personal significance of the Delaware.

Rick Van Noy is Professor of English at Radford University. His books include Sudden Spring, A Natural Sense of Wonder, and Surveying the Interior.

PRAISE FOR BORNE BY THE RIVER

“Just as the once-decimated riverside forests have regrown and pollution mostly stemmed, in Borne by the River Rick Van Noy comes back from devastating illness to find renewal in the waters, and community, of the Delaware. Although he paddles with his dog, throughout his voyage Van Noy is embraced by, and embraces, the people of the river, some of them as transient, some of them deeply rooted in the river’s history and culture. It’s a journey, and a community, that readers will happily join.” – Gary Letcher, author of Paddler’s Guide to the Delaware

“Rick Van Noy’s Borne by the River is a potent tale of regeneration. It approaches fundamental themes of connectedness and healing with the light touch of a seasoned paddler. It deepens the reader the way a river does a long sandy bank.” – Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch

“Everyone has a home river, whether they know it or not, some particular watershed where they were born. Rick Van Noy’s home river is the Delaware and this narrative is the result of deep love and serious study. The river in return has given Van Noy solace and comfort. Like Thoreau and John Graves before him, Van Noy has transformed his river into our river.” – John Lane, author of My Paddle to the Sea