Handley, George B., Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River
I understand that a year or so ago, George Handley (Ken and Kate’s son) was invited to present at a Relief Society event which welcomed both men and women. Don’t know why I would have missed it, but after reading Handley’s transcendent book, I know I would never make the same mistake again.
BYU English professor, scholar and essayist, Handley has created an amazing tour de force by combining thoughts on faith, family, place, history, poetry, and environment. His basic premise begins when he returns to Utah with his family after having been raised in Connecticut and working in California. He wonders if he will be able to “fit in” to his perceived narrow vision of Utah Valley. However, he takes it upon himself to discover and explore the headwaters and tributaries of the Provo River, where he hikes, rambles and flyfishes (it brings to mind Norman McLean’s memorableA River Runs Through It). But this is indeed more than just an exploration of the river, land and mountains, it examines in philosophical language that is more poetic than prose, ideas that encompass and intertwine all of these ideas in a fashion that entrances and enchants, as well as entices one to explore the passages of one’s own place in family, history, faith, and environment. Published by the prestigious University of Utah Press, this is a book not to be missed. It will rank up there with my all-time favs, not only because of its depth of subject, the beauty of language, and the magnificence of intellectual discovery.
