Mighty River: A Portrait of the Fraser

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

Many books about British Columbia’s Fraser River feature photographs
of its spectacular beauty and power. Richard Bocking’s portrait is
entirely in words: not a photograph in sight, save for the impressive
cover image. There are, however, eight full-page black-and-white maps.

Bocking is an award-winning filmmaker who has written and lectured
extensively on Canada’s fresh-water supplies. Mighty River is an
environmentalist’s appeal for the wise management of this precious
resource.

The book completes a 25-year odyssey by Bocking begun in 1972 with his
documentary film and book, Canada’s Water: For Sale? More films on
water, energy, and the environment followed, as Bocking’s
understanding of their importance grew. He realized that not only was
the Fraser central to the life, history, and future of British Columbia,
but that the same forces playing out in the same way as they did in the
Fraser basin could be seen in many other parts of the world.

Bocking acknowledges the importance of Bruce Hutchison’s book The
Fraser, now 50 years old, and sees his own as an update to this pioneer
work. Like Fraser, Bocking covers both the natural history and the
“extraordinary” human drama along its course, to offer hope for a
sustainable future. Mighty River is a template for sound freshwater
preservation and management of rivers.