Lifelong friends to share wilderness tales

Jesse Reeder, Deb Jackson Brewer, Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, and Kamala Bremer will present “From Chicken to Eagle: Seven Women Paddling Whitewater and Navigating Life,” Thursday, June 6, at 6:30 p.m., at Paulina Springs Books.

The book chronicles their paddling adventures, challenges, and inspirations from a life-changing trip in 1979.

“From Chicken to Eagle: Seven Women Paddling Whitewater and Navigating Life” is a story of seven women who took a wilderness adventure at a time — 1979 — when women were starting to test their mettle in society and in the wilderness. Unique for that era, they received sponsorship from Canoe magazine, REI and other outfitters, and were covered extensively at the time by Eugene media and Canoe magazine. The 11-day journey was a time of laughter, friendship, fear, and life-threatening challenge.

The river adventure also helped launch each of them on new pathways in their lives and careers, and inspired all to accomplish things beyond their imaginations and comfort levels. At their 40th reunion, they decided to write the book. These chapters share how the courage they used in Alaska helped push their careers into upper levels of responsibility and management where previous generations of women had not succeeded.

Paulina Springs Books is located at 252 W. Hood Ave. For more information call 541-549-0866.