This summer, I gave a presentation at the Minnesota Historical Society about Pushing the River and the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby as part of their “North Star Voices” series.

Join award-winning writer, Frank Bures, to learn more about tales of ambition, adventure, rivalry, friendship, and love on the waters of the Mississippi River and beyond. In this program, you’ll see rare historic photos and video of the legendary Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby, and hear true stories as varied as the waters, weather, and rhythms of a canoe trip. From the terror of two kayakers who barely escaped from the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire in the Boundary Waters to two young campers who had a supernatural scare in Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park in the 1970s to the author’s own incredible rescue, Bures narrates the full range of what it means to push the river.

You can watch here, or below: