Unique Perspective Helped Write ‘What A River Says’

The title of a new book by Portland author Jeff Wallach, “What the River Says,” begs the question: What does it say?

In short: Go to the wilderness, experience it, have an adventure, be transformed by it if the opportunity arises.

Or go play golf. Well, the book doesn’t say that, but Wallach might. “What the River Says” is his second effort. His first book is “Beyond the Fairway: Zen Lessons, insights and Inner Attitudes of Golf.” And with “What the River Says” behind him - he’s busy on the reading tour to promote the book - Wallach is working on his second book about golf. “Hopefully it will be my last because I will have said everything I want to about golf,” he said during a phone interview from Portland. “I want to get out and spend time hiking and backpacking.”

Wallach wrote the river book after spending a summer working as a guide on the Salmon River in Idaho. It wasn’t his first experience on rivers; he’s rafted rivers in Texas, Utah and Oregon extensively.

What sets this outdoor adventure book apart from the others on book store shelves, says the New York native, is his perspective both as an experienced guide and as what he calls a passenger. “I still remember what it is like to go into the backcountry, feel hopeless and clueless and mystified by everything.”

Jeff Wallach will read from “What the River Says” Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. It’s free.

, DataTimes