Top
Robert Perkins Bio |
Summary
In the past ten years I have written five non-fiction books about my journeys to unusual places. I have written and created six documentary films for Channel 4 in England and PBS in the United States. My recurring theme is our place in nature, and our regard and treatment of her. |
Education
o AB, English, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1974
o BA, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, 1972
o Milton Academy, Milton, MA, 1967 |
Awards
o Royal Geographic Society, London, England & Grants
o Explorers Club, New York
o Earthwatch, Boston
o The Rockefeller Family Foundation, New York
o Ingram Merrill Foundation, 1989, 1994, New York
o American Film Festival, Blue Ribbon, 1992, Hollywood
o American Film Festival, Red Ribbon, 1990, Hollywood |
Books |
Talking to Angels, published by Beacon Press, Boston, MA, 1996.
A memoir that examines the human spirit in the face of adversity and grief. |
Kamchatka, Land of Fire & Ice, published by Calman & King, London, England, 1993.
An historical essay that introduces the first large format publication of photographs by Russian photographer Vladimir Gippenriter. |
Into the Great Solitude, published by Henry Holdt, New York, 1989.
The story of a 72-day solo canoe journey down the Back River, in the Canadian Tundra. |
Against Straight Lines, published by Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, MA, 1983.
A non-fiction account of a solo canoe odyssey through the Torngat Mountains of Northern Labrador. |
Boston Athenaeum Art Exhibit Index, 1827-1874, published by MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1980.
A one-thousand page illustrated art reference book about the first art exhibits in Boston, cross-referenced four ways.
Films
Looking for John Muir, 1998
Driving a BMW motorcycle with his dog in the sidecar, the filmmaker traces conservationist John Muirıs 1867 one-thousand-mile walk from Kentucky to Florida. A humorous and insightful meditation on the contrast between Muirıs vision and the modern world. |
Talking to Angels, 1994
Robert Perkins universally-praised memoir that examines what sustains the human spirit in the face of adversity. Parallel journeys and journals describe how the filmmaker and his wife, Irene Goodale, fight against her breast cancer. |
Home Waters, 1994
An autumn sojourn on New Englandıs Connecticut River, canoeing from the U.S.-Canadian border to Long Island Sound. The film tells a hopeful environmental story about the river that has been described as "the most beautifully landscaped cesspool in America", and the people who live at its edge. |
One Man in a Boat, 1992
With whimsy and insight, Robert Perkins canoes from London to Scotland on the canals and rivers of Great Britain to deliver a letter to the head of his ancestral clan, Lord Nigel Forbes. The film is a moving portrait of a land and its people. |
Yankee in Kamchatka, 1991
As the first Westerner to travel to Kamchatka in 75 years, the filmmaker tells the story of the land, the adventure, the volcanoes and the people of this unknown peninsula, the worldıs most heavily-guarded border during the Cold War. |
Into the Great Solitude, 1989
A poetic inquiry into the benefits of solitude. A film journey of a 72-day solo canoe journey through the dangerous terrain of the Canadian Tundra. The film explores the relationship between a father and a son, andour relationship to the land and wildlife. |
Rob Perkins is not only a fascinating author, filmmaker, and outdoorsman, but has a remarkable recovery story that I think will be an inspiration to many in the mental illness/health community. He was hospitalized at 19 for a psychotic break and again at 36. Currently he is well and is keen to share his sensitive, life affirming films, his writing and his personal story. Rob's insights into living a holistic lifestyle are instrumental in keeping him well. I think his work will reach a broad audience with a very positive message.
