Synopses & Reviews
andldquo;This book is as autobiographical as it is biographical . . . a book that juxtaposes two adventurers, one with her own challenges still unfolding and the other with his position fixed in history . . . a book worthy of the centenary celebration of Amundsenandrsquo;s trek to the South Pole.andrdquo;andmdash;
San Francisco Chronicle Today the North and South Poles are home to research stations and film crews, but just a century ago they were forbidding lands seldom seen by human eyes. Those who journeyed there were the last true explorers, and one of the most successful ever was Roald Amundsen. Known as andldquo;the last of the Vikings,andrdquo; the Norwegian-born Amundsen began his career of adventure at age fifteen and by forty had become the first man to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage, and to reach both the North and South Poles.
As a girl, Lynne Cox read of Amundsenandrsquo;s exploits, which inspired her to follow her own adventurous dreams of open-water swimming. Here, she gives an account of Amundsenandrsquo;s life and expeditions while detailing her own experiences swimming (without a wetsuit) in the same polar regions he first explored. At once a biography, history, and memoir, South with the Sun holds something for any lover of adventure.
andldquo;Not to miss . . . It's fascinating to read about the Norwegian hardman through the eyes of Cox.andrdquo;andmdash;Outside
Review
PRAISE FOR
SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA "This would make a great story even if Cox couldn't write. But she can . . . She's done things the rest of us only imagine-and she's written a book that helps us to imagine them with clarity and wonder." -THE BOSTON GLOBE
"What emerges here is an athlete whose determination is so fierce that it seems almost exotic. She is fit. She is focused. She is Lance Armstrong with body fat."-USA TODAY
"More than the story of the greatest open-water swimmer, Swimming to Antarctica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive . . . Cox's understated style makes for gripping reading."
-SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Review
Thrilling , vivid, and lyrical, an inspiring account of a life of aspiration and adventure.
Review
"All of [her] superhuman escapades are vividly detailed in Cox's absorbing memoir."
Review
"An absorbing, well-written memoir. The paperback edition is even better than the hardcover, with more maps and photographs."
Review
Gripping reading...Swimming to Antaritica is a portrait of rare and relentless drive.
Review
Praise for GRAYSON:
"Donand#8217;t believe in interspecies communication? Grayson, author Coxand#8217;s moving memoir about the lost baby whale she encountered when she was 17, just might change your mind."--People
"An account of courage and adventure artfully rendered with the joy, wonder, and suspense it deserves."and#151;The Boston Globe
"A riveting adventure celebrating the mysterious bond between a champion swimmer and one wayward calf."--Elle
"Together [Cox and Grayson] journey to the eventual mother-and-child reunion through a fantastical world of giant ocean sunfish, bat rays with five-foot wingspans and a school of dolphins."and#151;The New York Times
Synopsis
Lynne Cox, adventurer and swimmer, author of Swimming to Antarctica (and#8220;grippingand#8221; and#8212;Sports Illustrated) and Grayson (and#8220;wondrous, and unforgettableand#8221; and#8212;Carl Hiaasen), gives us in South with the Sun a full-scale account of the explorerand#8217;s life and expeditions.
Synopsis
Now in paperback, with photos and maps added especially for this new edition, here is the acclaimed life story of a woman whose drive and determination inspire everyone she touches.
Lynne Cox started swimming almost as soon as she could walk. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, she became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.
Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir.
Synopsis
The true story of a miraculous encounter between a teenaged girl and a baby whale off the coast of California and#160;
It was the dark of early morning; seventeen-year-old Lynne Cox was swimming her last half mile back to the pier after a long workout when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall was moving in; whatever it was felt large enough to be a white shark coursing beneath her body. In fact, it was a baby gray whale. Lynne quickly realized that if she swam back to the pier, the young calf would follow her to shore and die from collapsed lungs. On the other hand, if Lynne didnand#8217;t find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death. Something so enormousand#8212;the mother whale would be at least fifty feet longand#8212;suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. This is the storyand#8212;part mystery, part magical taleand#8212;of what happened.
About the Author
LYNNE COX has set records all over the world for open-water swimming. She was named a Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and honored with a lifetime achievement award from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Swimming to Antarctica, which won an Alex Award. She lives in Los Alamitos, California.
Table of Contents
Prologue: A Cold Day in August 1
Beginnings 7
Leaving Home 14
Open Water 27
Twenty-six Miles Across the Sea 40
English Channel 57
White Cliffs of Dover 69
Homecoming 95
Invitation to Egypt 102
Lost in the Fog 124
Cook Strait, New Zealand 134
Human Research Subject 146
The Strait of Magellan 160
Around the Cape of Good Hope 177
Around the World in Eighty Days 194
Glacier Bay 204
Facing the Bomb 224
The A-Team 234
Mind-Blowing 248
Debate 265
Across the Bering Strait 282
Success 302
Siberia's Gold Medal 307
Swimming to Antarctica 314
Afterword 358