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NOAH’S New River

Whether they’re on the road or at home, NPR listeners know he soothing voice of Noah Adams--he’s a veteran co-host of All Things Considered. But even long-time fans may not know that Adams is also an accomplished author, with several best-selling books to his credit, including his most recent, Far Appalachia: Following the New River North.

Adams brings more than three decades of radio experience to devoted audiences across the country. His career in radio began in the 60s at WIRO/Ironton, Ohio, across the road from his native Ashland, Kentucky. He was a ‘good music’ DJ on the morning shift and played rock and roll on ‘Sandman’s Serenade’ at night. Between shifts, he broadcast everything from basketball games to sock hops.

After more radio work and several other jobs, Adams discovered public radio in 1971 at WBKY-FM at the University of Kentucky. He first arrived at NPR in 1975, where he worked behind the scenes, editing and writing, for several years. He first became a co-host of All Things Considered in 1978.

The 1990 collection of his essays from NPR, Saint Croix Notes: River Mornings, Radio Nights, received rave reviews, as did 1992’s Noah Adams on All Things Considered: A Radio Journal. Published in 1996, Piano Lessons: Music, Love and True Adventures, explored his relationship with music and much more.

Adams’ most recent best-selling book, Far Appalachia, was recently released in paperback. In it, he follows the New River (which is, ironically, the second oldest river in the world)--from it’s mile-high source on North Carolina’s Snake Mountain to its West Virginia mouth. Adams traveled by Jeep, canoe, bicycle, foot, and even a whitewater raft to explore the history, natural beauty, and characters waiting around practically every bend in the river.

We caught up with Adams at his home in Tacoma Park, Maryland, where he lives with his wife, Neenah Ellis (and a new canoe).

Jeep News: Why did you write Far Appalachia?

Adams: I grew up in Eastern Kentucky, on the edge of the coalfields, and over the year did a lot of reporting from Appalachia for All Things Considered. Quick trips, usually. I'd fly in to cover a miner's strike, or an environmental crisis. I always thought I'd like to work on a book about the region but it was daunting--parts of thirteen states comprise Appalachia.

Finally, I spotted the New River on a map, saw its beginnings in the mountains of western North Carolina, saw the South and the North Fork unite and flow north into Virginia, then, dramatically, turn west and then north again into West Virginia. I later figured it at 350 river miles, and I covered most of them. I thought if I told the story of the river I could tell the story of the people who settled in the valleys and the mountain coves. It was a wonderful chance to wander and ask questions and poke around in county libraries and old family cemeteries. I even got to go to England in search of my mother's forebear, Thomas Wellman, whose great-grandson crossed Pound Gap into Kentucky in 1802 with his wife Mary Mulligan and their eight children. And a river story is a gift to a writer because everyone knows where it will start and where it ends; the challenge is to have the water carry a narrative, and to try to have surprises waiting around the bend.  

Jeep News: What were some of the highlights of the project?

Adams: After I had finished the manuscript I took my wife, Neenah Ellis, on an early spring driving trip along much of the New. She had helped with much of the planning for the book and all of the fact-checking, and I wanted her to see some of my favorite places, meet some of my friends. We drove to Snake Mountain, the highest point at 5,574 feet, where the springs run cold and clear. She got to meet Shawn Hash, a river guide whose stories run for days and miles along the New in Virginia. And farther north in West Virginia, she surprised me and said "Sure, let's go on a raft trip." Once again I got to join my friends at Class VI River Runners for a ride down through the gorge of the Lower New. I think I had convinced her that it was scarier than it really is. My own favorite moments though always came when I was alone, camping by the river's edge, listening to its voices, thinking about all those who had come before.

Jeep News: We have to know-do you listen to NPR while driving?

Adams: When I'm on vacation, or in this case on a leave of absence, I don't listen much. The idea is to get as far away from the news as possible--if something big happens I'd just get frustrated. I do like to listen to the small local stations, although they seem to be disappearing fast. For the river book driving my best company would always be tape of old-time music; it was a happier feeling and helped keep me centered on the culture of the "backsettlers."

Jeep News: We understand you’ve taken a leave of absence from NPR to work on another book project. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Adams: I'm off now for a year on another literary adventure, and this one involves engineering and scientific research as well as travel. I'm working on a book about the day a hundred years ago when an airplane flew for twelve seconds in North Carolina. The book is to be called The Flyers: Orville & Wilbur, 1903. I hadn't been thinking about another book project, but in November of last year I went to the Outer Banks and visited the Wright Memorial. I realized I didn't know very much about the brothers and as soon as I started reading I knew I had to find out more. I'll spend a lot of time in Dayton, Ohio, and I'll get to go to France to the site where Wilbur demonstrated their plane in 1908. I like these guys--they were high-school dropouts who were technical wizards and totally focused. They change world.

Lynn Seldon is a long-time fan of Noah Adams on-air and in print. He’s a fellow paddler who has canoed, kayaked, and rafted the New River many times.