Author contemplates victory and defeat

Tori Murden McClure is the first woman to row alone across an expanse that makes even Alaska look small. She wrote about her solo trip across the Atlantic in “A Pearl in the Storm: How I found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean,” a book that is a thrilling adventure and a soulful exploration of the human spirit.

“In the end I know I rowed across the Atlantic to find my heart, but in the beginning, I wasn’t aware that it was missing,” she writes.

In a 23-foot boat she built herself, Tori setout on a quest across the Atlantic in what was to be one of the worst hurricane seasons on record. With all communications lost, she was two-thirds of the way across the ocean when Hurricane Danielle slammed her boat with deadly force. Catapulted end over end in her little boat, she sustained serious injuries and was forced to quit. Humiliated at having to call for help, she returned home to what felt like disgrace.

Back in Kentucky, she went to work for Mohammed Ali. He knew what it meant to get knocked down and he encouraged her. He convinced her that she didn’t want to be known as the woman who almost rowed across the ocean.

So, Tori returned to the Atlantic to finish what she began. In the course of navigating the waters of an ocean, she came to terms with her own humanity. She gained a new knowledge of herself, her limitations and both the thrill and anguish of what it means to be fully human. What began as a quest ended with humility, wisdom and a hero’s welcome home.

“A Pearl in the Storm” is a riveting page-turner. I’ve given this book to nearly everyone I know. It’s that good.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I know the author. Tori and I met in Kentucky while we were both attending the Master of Fine Arts in Writing program at Spalding University. Tori was writing “A Pearl in the Storm” while I was working on “A Tender Distance.”

During a student reading, I described the misadventure of my young son’s climb of Eagle River’s Baldy Mountain juxtaposed against Vern Tejas’ first solo winter ascent of Mt. McKinley. Tori was in the audience and talked to me afterward. It turns out she knew Vern — she had bummed some oatmeal from him at 19,000 feet on a Denali climb she’d made a few years earlier.

Later at lunch, she said, “Let’s go climb McKinley.”

Eighteen months later, I was on the mountain with Tori and two other women climbers experiencing one of the most memorable summers of my life.

That’s Tori for you. She just quietly does what she sets out to do. Did I mention she’s also the first woman to ski 750 miles over land to the South Pole? These days she spends her time as president of Spalding University, she continues to climb and gives talks about her experiences. She is quick to point out the hurricanes she encountered on the Atlantic are no more difficult than the storms many of us will encounter in life.

Tori will be in Palmer briefly and has agreed to stop at Fireside Books from 5 to 7 p.m., June 8 to sign books. It will be an opportunity to meet a fine author, a true explorer and an extraordinary woman.

For more information about Tori, the book and her row across the Atlantic, visit apearlinthestorm.com.

Kaylene Johnson is author of “A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Sons in Alaska” and former Valley resident who now resides in Eagle River.