• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2007 March #2
  Pregracke grew up on the shores of the Mississippi; as a young adult, working on the river, he was shocked by the amount of garbage littering the water. Deciding to clean up the river--at least the portion of it he called home--he approached corporate sponsors and quickly became something of a folk hero, the leader of a band of environmentally conscious volunteers who sailed the Mississippi, pulling old tires, appliances, pieces of furniture, even automobiles, out of the river. This simply written book chronicles the birth and growth of Pregracke's nonprofit organization, Living Lands & Waters, and introduces us to some of the spirited volunteers who have helped make his dream a reality. Pregracke has made plenty of headlines over the years (early stories on several networks gave his cause a big financial boost), and readers familiar only with the news stories will welcome this opportunity to see the men and women who have dedicated themselves to the seemingly impossible: cleaning up the third-longest river in the world. ((Reviewed March 15, 2007)) Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews.

Chad Pregracke founded Living Lands & Waters, a not-for-profit environmental and educational organization at age 19. Today he directs the efforts of a fleet of barges and community work crews that engage thousands of volunteers in cleanups along our nation's big rivers. He lives in East Moline, Illinois. Visit Chad's web site at www.livinglandsandwaters.org.

Jeff Barrow is a longtime paddler and outdoors writer who is a regular contributor to The Kansas City Star, The St. Louis Sun, Paddler magazine, and American Whitewater Journal. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.