"Canoeing with the Cree" by Eric Sevareid

If you've a mind for some light Summer reading, please join us at Liberty Station for a discussion of "Canoeing with the Cree" by Eric Sevareid. We will be meeting at Moniker General Coffee Company, which is across the street from The Public Market. The book is a great escapist read about a daring true adventure by two high school buddies, one of whom went on to become the great CBS news reporter and commentator.

Below are some excerpts about the book from an excellent 2006 review by Kevin Holtsberry posted at Collected Miscellany

"Originally published in 1935, ... the book tells the story of two high school graduates who undertake a 2,500 mile canoe trip from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Sevareid, age 17, and his friend Walter C. Port, age 19, pilled their supplies into a used 18 foot canvas canoe and set out on this amazing journey. Sevareid came up with the idea to file reports of their adventure with the Minneapolis Star and convinced the editor to pay them. These reports became the basis for this book and helped get Sevareid started in his journalism career."

"Reading Canoeing with the Cree is like stepping back in time. The writing is refreshingly unpretentious and communicates the excitement and innocence of the travelers. It also describes the amazing largely untamed wilderness of the North Woods in the nineteen thirties. One has to be in awe of their courage and determination. Without a radio, motor, or decent maps, and with only the most basic foodstuffs, they traveled 2,2500 miles in fourteen weeks. Reading along you find yourself wishing you could embark on a grand adventure, although maybe a shorter and less dangerous one."