SWIMMING TO THE TOP OF THE TIDE

In this memoir of a citizen scientist, Hanlon details the small, yet vital ways she has found to give back to a fragile ecosystem that is disappearing right before our eyes. This deeply intimate exploration of New England's estuaries and salt marshes shows us how to celebrate all living things, both big and small, and how this celebration is the first step toward protecting them

In Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui explored why swimming is one the world's most popular activities; in Water Swimming, Lynne Cox taught us how to swim in the wild; and in Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens piqued reader's curiosity about the mysterious world of a tidal marsh. Hanlon brings readers into all of these worlds, offering peaceful, accessible insights into the experience of swimming the Great Marsh through all seasonal conditions, while sharing the wisdom she's gleaned from a lifetime making art and raising a family along its channels. She skims over no detail, and readers will be right there with her, floating down stream, noticing the environmental changes, and inspired to create a more sustainable future for the natural wonders that connect us all to the Earth and the activities that deliver lasting joy.

The Great Marsh is the largest continuous stretch of salt marsh in New England, extending from Cape Ann to New Hampshire. Patricia Hanlon and her husband built their home and raised their children alongside it. But it is not until the children are grown that they begin to swim the tidal estuary daily. Immersing herself, she experiences, with all her senses in all seasons, the vigor of a place where the two ecosystems of fresh and salt water mix, merge, and create new life.

In Swimming to the Top of the Tide, Hanlon lyrically charts her explorations, at once intimate and scientific. Noting the disruptions caused by human intervention, she bears witness to the vitality of the watersheds, their essential role in the natural world, and the responsibility of those who love them to contribute to their sustainability.

Patricia Hanlon is a visual artist who paints the beautiful ecosystem of New England's Great Marsh and is involved in the watershed organizations of Greater Boston. Swimming to the Top of the Tide is her first book.