Paul Guernsey

Here's yet another Goodreads review of Rolling Back the River. If I do say so myself, this reader not only provides a very good description of the novel, but she herself is proof that the book contains a thoughtful adventure story that can be enjoyed by a reader who doesn't know a lot about the sport of fly fishing. 

Yep, Fathers Day is on the way, and Rolling Back the River, with its blend of adventure, mystery, angling, and meditations on a man's place in a changing world—along with an array of fascinating, strong, and occasionally seductive women characters—make this an ideal read for men of any age. And yes; on four Saturdays just prior to Fathers Day, I'll be signing copies of my book at bookstores up and down the coast of Maine, including at the big Barnes & Noble stores in South Portland and Augusta. I'll also be at two Sherman's Maine Coast Bookshops, starting with the Rockland store on Saturday, May 30—which is coming right up. Check my Home Page for the schedule. I hope to see you at one of my signings! 

Billionaire, fly fisherman, and wildlife conservationist Ted Turner died recently at the age of 87 after a long illness. Though I never met him or spoke to him, on two occasions our lives intersected at a distance, and he ended up serving—very loosely—as the model for the charater J.T. Allman in my novel, Rolling Back the River. In 2002, shortly after I become editor of Fly Rod & Reel Magazine, we decided that Turner would be the most worthy recipient for our annual Angler of the Year Award. Turner had recently enabled the creation of a significant new piece of habitat for the beleaguered Westslope cutthroat trout subspecies in a stream called Cherry Creek, which ran through one of his ranches in Montana. The project involved using rotenone to kill all the brown trout and rainbow trout in the creek, after which a reproducing population of cutthroats was established in the stream. Removing the non-native fish was necessary because of the fact that they tend to out-compete natiive cutthroat whenever they share a habitat. Rainbow trout, in particular, tend to hybridize with cuttthroats, creating hybrids called "cuttbows" and thereby diluting the gene pool of the native species. The Cherry Creek project ended up being somewhat controversial, as many anglers had enjoyed fishing for brown and rainbow trout in this stream, and many were, at best, indifferent to the idea of restoring native species. My other distant connection with Turner occurred in 2022, when I was fishing for landlocked salmon on the Traful River in Argentina. One entire side of the Traful, starting at Traful Lake, was owned by Turner, and I fished both sides of the river, frequently finding myself on Turner's property. This experience gave me the idea for Rolling Back the River, a story of two ranches divided by a river, one owned by Argentines and the other by an American biillionaire and conservationist, which both compete and cooperate with one another in various ways. My protagonist, Vincent Mapp, ends up facing off against the mysterious and somewhat dangerous billlionaire, J.T. Allman—while at the same time befriending his very friendly adult twin neices. In this way, Ted Turner served as something of a model for Allman. Rest in peace, Mr. Turner. 

We're currently giving away 15 print copies of Rolling Back the River over on Goodreads—the huge website for conversation about people's favorite reads. The giveaway is going on right now, and all you have to do to enter is to take a few seconds to fill out an entry form, which you can access right here. The event ends on May 25, with the winners' copies going out—directly from the author, with my signature inside—shortly thereafter. Good luck! 

Today, April 28th, along with fellow author Mark Kurkansky I participated in a Maine Public Radio ("Maine Calling") discussion about fly-fishing—and about Rolling Back the River. The host was Cindy Han. The show begins with Kurlansky, and I begin talking about 10 minutes in, after the break. You can listen to the full podcast episode here.