Reading Dr. Rugge

     All doctors write prescriptions. Some doctors write books. I'm thinking of Dr. John Rugge, who recently announced that he was stepping back from treating patients after a 46 year career. Dr. Rugge is well known in the North Country, both for his role as personal physician and also for founding the Hudson Headwaters Health Network, whose centers provide care for many thousands every year.

A young Dr. Rugge, early in his career

A more recent photo of Dr. Rugge with a patient

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The HHHN center on East Street in Fort Edward, Washington County

     Not everyone knows that before he started his long career in medicine he had a published book to his credit. In 1975 Rugge and co-author James West Davidson wrote The Complete Wilderness Paddler, a how-to guide framed around an expedition they had undertaken on Canada's Moisie River.

Moisie River rapids

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          News of the Doctor's retirement took me back many years to when I first read his book and enjoyed a canoeing slide show that Rugge gave in Glens Falls. With this year's paddling season winding down, I reread Wilderness Paddler as well as a second book by the two authors. I can recommend both volumes to anyone who loves a good adventure story and also appreciates the talents a challenging river trip requires.  

     It takes a boat load of skills to tackle a river like the Moisie. Planning, navigation, whitewater paddling, camping and basic survival all come into play. All are covered in the book. The technique of using a real trip for structure works well. There is a narrative arc to hang the instruction onto and the style evokes the camaraderie of friends having the adventure of a lifetime. Also note that Gordon Allen's finely drawn illustrations capture the spirit of the river better than photos could.

     Treating patients and building the HHHN must have kept Dr. Rugge busy during the '80's. Still, somehow, he and Davidson found time for more paddling in Labrador. Out of these trips and lots of research came Great Heart. The book was published in 1988 and it too has rivers and canoeing at its core. Great Heart tells the story of three early 1900's expeditions to "the last blank spot on the map of North America". This is history reconstructed from diaries and journals but told with fictional techniques.

     The epic begins with Leonidas Hubbard, a man whose ambitions draw him into an overpowering, unforgiving wilderness that he's  unprepared for. It grows to include his fellow adventurer, Dillon Wallace, his guide, George Elson, and Hubbard's wife Mina. The motivations and personalities of these individuals create a tension that propels the tale. It's an action/adventure thriller but based on actual events.

Goggle Earth screen shot of Labrador, setting of Rugge's books

     Is another book possible now that he's easing away from his health care responsibilities? We can only hope so. In the meantime, here's wishing John Rugge many years of gentle tailwinds, short portages and a safe eddy at the bottom of every rapid.

Rugge paddling Tripp Lake in the Adirondacks

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