The River Queen
Page 29
Then it comes to me. Perhaps he’d like his ashes to mingle with the river. The one we left a few days back. Perhaps somewhere between Hannibal or Quincy. The place where Huck could’ve taken Jim, were it not for the sake of a story. I’ll find that island. Or one that looks like a place where cattle grazed. In the spring when the water is high and rushing, I’ll bring him home.
Kentucky Lake casts its spell. It is so wide and open and blue. I ease the throttle back and slow her down a little, not enough so even Tom can tell. I’m not in a rush to get anywhere and nobody even bothers to ask me what I’m doing. With binoculars around my neck, I navigate the buoys. A heron rises, skimming the water off my port side.
As I steer alone down the middle of Kentucky Lake, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with Tom a few days before. It was another sunny day like this, close to dusk. A sun-drenched evening and I was piloting through a series of bends. I was asking him about his life and what it was like, living as he did in his houseboat in all seasons. Wasn’t he cold in winter? Didn’t the bugs bother him in summer? He just shook his head the way he always did. “I’ve made my home on this river,” Tom told me. “I’ve given it my life.”
“It must be hard,” I replied.
He shook his head again, with that twinkle in his eye. “It’s a hard life,” he said. “And it’s a happy life. It’s an easy life. It’s a sad life. Hey!” He bumped me on the arm in that evening light in what now seems like a long time ago. “Maybe that’s your ending, Mary? Maybe your story should stop right here.”
Maybe it should. Maybe it does. I hear the clang of footsteps on the ladder as Tom and Jerry come topside. We are coming to a bridge and on the other side is Paris Landing, where our journey will end. I’m assuming Jerry wants to take the wheel, but instead they both stand, side by side, staring into the blue of Kentucky Lake. As I’m making a diagonal to the bridge, Jerry says, “Take her straight for the middle.”
I shake my head. “I’ve got a red buoy at ten o’clock, Sir.” I point across the lake, almost to the other shore.
Tom and Jerry are silent for a moment. Hesitantly Tom agrees. “She’s right, Sir.”
Jerry nods, never looking my way. “Then proceed as you are.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First I must thank Tom Hafner and Jerry Nelson, the best river pilots and most decent guys a girl could stumble upon on a July afternoon in the North Country. I cannot think of a luckier set of circumstances. They made my journey, and this story, happen as it did. I want to thank my brother, John Morris, and his wife, Gloria, for their generous help. And my nephew, Matthew Morris, his wife, Gail, and her family, who showed me around La Crosse and gave me the keys to their house. I am not sure I would have found Tom and Jerry without their efforts or their hospitality.
I want to thank my wonderful agent, Ellen Levine, as always, for her incredible dedication and support. And everyone at Trident Media Group, including Lara Allen and Alanna Ramirez for the enthusiasm and professional expertise they brought to this book. My editor, George Hodgman, has been with me all the way in this project and it is safe to say that this book would not be what it is without George’s determination and unflinching eye. I am also indebted to Sarah Lawrence College for a Bogert fund release time grant and the very important assistance it provided.
I want to thank my friends Marc Kaufman for his careful reading of this manuscript, Krin Gabbard who has taught me much of what I know about jazz and shared with me his extensive collection, Anne Adams Lang, who was always on the other end of the phone, Julian Shapiro for the lyrics to songs and favorite paintings, Mary and Philip Elmer-DeWitt for lending me books and magazines I have yet to return, my neighbors Joel and Diana Robinson for the last-minute loan of a duffel and life vest, Jane Supino for being there, even when I tested her, and the Comfortzone on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn that provided a place where I could sit and work all day. I want to thank Carol Wise whose generosity and almost thirty years of friendship gave me a week’s peace and time to think in Mexico.
A number of books provided important sources and I will just list some of them here. The Army Corps of Engineers Upper Mississippi River Navigational Charts, Quimby’s 2005 Cruising Guide, and the fine River Event Planner: Boating and Travel Guide all provided excellent maps, marina and nautical information, and travel materials. Books I came to cherish included Rising Tides by J. M. Barry, Old Glory by Jonathan Raban, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West by Francis Parkman, Upper Mississippi River History by Captain Ron Larson, Jazz on the River by William Howland Kenney, and of course the writings of Mark Twain.
Several people along the river shared with me their knowledge and offered their assistance, including Assistant Lockmaster Bill Stute from Genoa Lock and Dam 8, Iris Nelson from the Quincy Public Library, and Henry Sweets from the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, and I am grateful to the many people on the river who shared with me their stories and experiences of life on the Mississippi.
And, finally, to the “Whale Kisser,” my daughter, Kate, who asked to read the manuscript and gave me some of the smartest, most thoughtful comments I’ve ever gotten from anyone, ever, let alone a nineteen-year-old. I do believe she has aerial vision. And I am sure I will never find in this life (or any other) words to thank Larry—partner, guide, and, always, friend.
ALSO BY MARY MORRIS
FICTION
Revenge
Acts of God
The Lifeguard: Stories
House Arrest
The Night Sky
The Waiting Room
The Bus of Dreams
Vanishing Animals & Other Stories
NONFICTION
Angels & Aliens: A Journey West
Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers
Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail
Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARY MORRIS is the author of three other travel memoirs, each one representing a different stage in her life: Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone; Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail; and Angels and Aliens. She is also the author of six novels, including The Night Sky; House Arrest; Acts of God; and Revenge, and three collections of short stories, including The Lifeguard: Stories. When she is not traveling and writing, Morris is on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, where she teaches creative writing. The recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, Morris lives in Brooklyn.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Mary, date.
The River Queen : a memoir / Mary Morris.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7827-5
ISBN-10: 0-8050-7827-4
1. Morris, Mary, 1947—Travel—Mississippi River. 2. Novelists, American—20th century—Biography. 3. Mississippi River—Description and travel. I. Title.
PS3563.087445Z46 2007
813'.54—dc22
2006050681
First Edition 2007
eISBN 9781466843608
First eBook edition: March 2013