“Pack your paddle, grab your life vest and jump in your submersible Jeep. We’re off to America’s wildest wetland, a national treasure in our own backyard that’s been compared to the Grand Canyon in terms of natural wonder. And we would have lost it forever, if it weren’t for Herman Murrah.”
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It’s a little-known fact: One of America’s last wild rivers flows through Mississippi, forming an ecological treasure known as the Pascagoula River Swamp.
In WATERSHED, Davy Murrah writes about this incredible landscape and its narrow escape from destruction, led by an unlikely band of allies—most notably, his father, Herman.
Home to an astonishing array of plants and wildlife, this ecological jewel captured my imagination years ago, when I was asked to write a donor communications packet for the Pascagoula River Audubon Center. I still remember my first day in that bottomland hardwood forest: lizards fleeing my every footstep, clouds of butterflies, a chorus of bird calls both strange and familiar. In the open sky above the boat launch, swallowtail kites swooped daringly overhead as though writing some message in giant, invisible cursive. And we were only just setting out.
Where I spent an afternoon, Herman Murrah lived his life.
When I discovered University Press of Mississippi would be publishing this book in 2024, I knew it would offer a rare, intimate glimpse into this wild, remote place from the perspective of one of the few people who know it best.
I requested a copy before it even hit the shelves. Shortly after, I found myself agreeing to review it for the Clarion Ledger and Hattiesburg American newspapers, which you can read at the link above.