SWAMP GODDESS

In this debut memoir, TV documentary producer Sakas spins yarns from her years paddling through one of America’s great wetlands.

The great Okefenokee Swamp covers 700 square miles along the Georgia-Florida border. Its tannin-rich waters are known for their high acidity and tea-black color, and the slow, warm waterways are a favorite destination for kayakers year-round. For decades, Sakas has led tourists on multiday excursions into the vast wetlands, navigating its majestic cypress groves and pine islands. This book offers a bit of that experience to those who’ve never booked a tour with her: “My intent is to help the reader experience the exquisite greatness and small magical wonders this incredible wilderness holds,” she writes in her preface. For instance, she tells of a visitor in 1983 who, at 6 feet, 9 inches, was too tall for his tent; as he slept, his uncovered head attracted a bobcat, who cuddled against it and fell asleep, leading to a very rude awakening. She also tells of the time that she and her companions accidentally incurred the wrath of a territorial mother alligator, who pursued them over multiple days. Many stories are about the unusual ways people interact in nature, as in a late-night heart-to-heart among four older women in 2007, during which one admitted to eating her cremated husband’s ashes. Sakas writes with energy and enthusiasm throughout, as when she describes the breakneck escape from the aforementioned alligator: “I am positive we could have stroked a Harvard rowboat team. We paddled intently, in unison. We had only one goal. Get past momma. I looked back in time to see momma make one last mighty lunge in renewed effort and even greater determination than before.” The text is accompanied by dozens of full-color photographs of the swamp and various people mentioned in the stories. The anecdotal book has the feel of a good travel blog, although readers with a particular interest in the Okefenokee are likely to enjoy it most.

A spirited remembrance from a nature-loving guide.