2009 Copyright Gary Hoffman
Gary Hoffman has been guiding canoe trips for over forty years. From being a Boy Scout executive, Boundary Water's guide, Minnesota Outward Bound instructor, English teacher, and play director, Gary brings a rich history to the telling of Mighty Miss. In 1988, he began fulltime church ministry as a director for deacon formation. In 2007, he took an early retirement to pursue a writing career.
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For a moment our canoe hangs in mid-air, but only for a second. Dropping hard, its twenty-feet are quickly swallowed and held by the grip of a forty-foot whirlpool. The relentless pull of the vortex's four-foot open eye quickly draws us in, bending the bow as if to rip it asunder. The maelstrom's destructive force causes us to descend in silence, out of control.How did we ever survive that killer whirlpool, the fourteen mile paddle in six foot waves and thirty-five degree waters, and chilling games of "chicken" played by towboat operators steering 33,000 tons of steel? Mighty Miss answers these questions while showing mounting tensions that threaten to tear apart a father/son relationship. Mighty Miss also revels in miles of sandy beaches, a Robinson Crusoe island, magnificent sunrises and sunsets, a chance encounter with a unique beaver, eagles accompanying nearly half the trip, loons doing their evening call not five feet from the canoe, and hundreds of slam dancing carp, lips pulsating, passing mosh-pit style, several of their brethren. Between these experiences, fishermen and faith filled river people share intimate and uplifting moments.
Gary Hoffman, Mighty Miss author
