SUNDANCE NEWS RELEASE
What: Author and adventurer Jordan Hanssen presents his memoir Rowing into the Son: Four Young Men Crossing the North Atlantic (Mountaineers Books, 2012).
When/Where: Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6:30 p.m., Sundance Books and Music, 121 California Ave., Reno.
About Rowing Into the Son: On June 10, 2006, four college friends Dylan LeValley, Greg Spooner, Brad Vickers and Jordan Hanssen stepped into a 29-foot rowboat as the only American competitors in the first North Atlantic Rowing Race, pulling across the northern ocean.
From the first dreams of race planning to heaving through ocean waves, Rowing Into the Son: Four Young Men Crossing the North Atlantic takes the reader along with team Ocean Adventure Racing (OAR) Northwest as they head out from New York Harbor, catch the Gulf Stream current and make the final dramatic push for the finish line, a narrow 50-mile wide “gate” at Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. Hurricane-level winds, giant eddies, passing freighters, flying fish and sharks are all elements of the journey, and the race comes to a tense head on day 17—with another 55 days to go—as the crew realizes their food supplies are running out and they must drastically restrict their eating.
This is lead rower Jordan Hanssen’s intimate account of team OAR Northwest’s journey, set against the backdrop of Hanssen’s reflections on the teachings of both his stepfather and his biological father, who passed away many years previously. How Hanssen and his teammates cope within the confines of their tiny boat and their determination to push their limits will keep readers enthralled in this remarkable true tale of coming-of-age and adventure.
Praise:
“Jordan Hanssen has proven he can write true adventure as well as live it, by rowing across the ominous Atlantic Ocean. Truly an epic of adventure and perseverance, this is great inspiration for anyone who thinks of someday tackling the impossible.”
—Clive Cussler
“Too often in our lives we are told what we cannot do. Hanssen’s story deftly accomplishes the opposite. It might not catapult you into a rowboat, but be warned; you may be enticed to alter course.”
—Jill Fredston, author of Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge
About the Author:
Jordan Hanssen prefers to travel as close to the environment as possible: he has biked around Europe, rowed the North Atlantic Ocean, cycled across Australia, canoed more than 200 miles of the Rio Grande and circumnavigated the Olympic Peninsula in an open dory. He lives in Seattle. This is first book. For more on OAR Northwest visit www.oarnorthwest.org.
More information: www.sundancebookstore.com
This program is made possible through a partnership with Nevada Humanities and with the support of the Nightingale Family Foundation.
