It's not often that a person under the age of 50, or even 40, has had enough experiences to write a memoir. But Sarahlee Lawrence isn't like most people.
As a child living in remote central Oregon, Lawrence dreamed of finding adventure outside of her small town. It's a goal she achieved early, becoming an accomplished river guide by the age of 21.
Everything about running rivers appeals to Lawrence, who included a long list of things while talking to the Deseret News. "I love rivers," she said. "I love going wherever the river takes me. I love river people. I care about river issues. I like remote, rugged places. I like traveling. I like learning languages and immersing myself in cultures."
But Lawrence quickly discovered running rivers as a guide and an advocate isn't all there is to life. Traveling the world left Lawrence feeling placeless, like she needed to root herself. She needed a home that she could both leave and come back to.
"I was running rivers with people who spent their lives running rivers," Lawrence said. "And I saw in them, people in their 30s and 40s, people who ran rivers their whole lives, who love the river and would never really give it up. But they definitely had a hole where a home should have been. … And I didn't want to be like that."
So Lawrence came home to her family's land in Oregon and built a log house — by hand — with the help of her father. She also returned to school, earning a master's in environmental science and writing from the University of Montana.
It was during school that Lawrence got the idea to write a book, something she had never really considered before. Lawrence has kept journals her whole life. Writing and looking for words, she said, is how she processes her life. Her book, "River House" was published in October, and Lawrence will be in Salt Lake City at the King's English on Saturday afternoon to discuss it.
Lawrence's first real writing class came in the form of a nature essay class during her undergraduate studies, and she really loved it. "It was fun to take stories and my experience in the world and turn it into something more than a journal entry," she said. "To actually take some stories and moments that I had recorded and actually think about them and make more sense with them."
When Lawrence returned to school for her graduate degree, she continued writing about her adventures around the world. Along the way, her writing developed into a long thesis, a collection of essays that a professor encouraged her to send to publishing houses.
Tin House Books took interest in Lawrence's collection, but the essays still needed to be transformed into a cohesive book. Writing stand-alone essays had been an academic process, Lawrence said. But she had never really wrestled with a book-length document.
"When you're writing an essay that's seven pages, you can see it and you can track it, and the points you are making are pretty pointed," Lawrence said. "In a book, the points you are making come more subtly, over time. You have more time and more space to make your points and move the story.
"Wrestling with that kind of document and also taking a bunch of loosely-related essays and turning them into a book was hard. I had to weave things together that were definitely not written to be weaved together."
Lawrence said the whole process of rereading her life and reflection on her past has helped her to understand herself better. She now owns and operates an organic vegetable farm with the help of her family.
And though building her own home and writing a book were very profound instances in Lawrence's life, she is quick to point out that she still loves rivers and is an active rafter. In the past year she's visited Thailand, Costa Rica, the Grand Canyon, Italy and France, and she's planning a monthlong stop in Mexico in January. "I haven't given it up at all," she said.
If you go …
Who: Sarahlee Lawrence
When: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2 p.m.
Where: The King's English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East
Phone: 801-484-9100
Web: www.kingsenglish.com
e-mail: jharrison@desnews.com