Nature—it is both majestic and deadly, subjugated and unconquerable, mysterious and comprehendible. Niagara Falls in particular holds many secrets just beneath its surface.

Five boys decide to challenge Niagara after seeing an old photograph on the wall of their favorite hangout. Several nineteenth century pedestrians stand just before the falls on an ice bridge, the shop’s proprietor Ol’ Gordy explains. In the winter, the surface freezes over, but the rapids continue to rush agitatedly beneath the surface. It’s dangerous and illegal to go out on the ice bridge, he warns them. No place for boys; no place for anyone.

Adventure! Motivated by the heroic stupidity so often present in young boys and a desire to see their picture hang on the wall of Ol’ Gordy’s shop, the friends decide to journey into the Niagara Gorge.

They bring extra socks to warm their toes, a smattering of junk food to sustain their bellies, and a camera to document their adventures, but they take no measures to prepare themselves emotionally for the harrowing quest.

What’s the worst that can happen? The boys think, full of inflated self belief. When a rescue team appears, they realize that they’ve been caught in their law-breaking antics. Rather than risk punishment, they run deeper into the Gorge, believing they can find a way out for themselves. If they are to emerge from the Gorge at all, they will surely emerge as men, having conquered their childhoods as well as nature itself.

The friends’ tale is interwoven with those of others whose lives have been touched by Niagara—the musical hermit who escapes society’s demands by becoming one with the river, the honeymooning couples who were there the day the falls stopped flowing, the runaway slaves who crossed the bridge from oppression into the freeman lands of Canada, the drummer boy who was rescued from certain death at the hands of an enemy warrior. Their stories are Niagara’s stories.

“Great things usually don’t happen to great people,” our narrator informs us. “Things happen to regular people, and great people emerge.”

dk LeVick’s debut novel, Bridges: A Tale of Niagara is a story to which we can all relate. We as a society, we as individuals, must traverse life’s bridges if ever we are to reach our intended destinations. From ignorance to knowledge, brutality to grace, childhood to adulthood, we must all journey forth—there is no holding back.

With every word, the author’s careful research into the area, the history, and the characters is readily apparent. He seamlessly weaves the disparate threads together through the recurrence of themes and important physical artifacts.Bridges is a must-read for those who have ever struggled to know themselves. LeVick reminds us to look to our pasts and to our homes, and we will surely find ourselves.

Being born and raised in the Niagara Frontier, I grew up on the Upper Niagara River and spent my formative years as a ‘river rat’, not in awe, but in fear of the mighty Cataract, viewing it as a threat to my Upper river escapades.  More than once, myself and my fellow rates barely escaped the swift current while tubing down the river or fishing off of Navy Island in a rubber raft. The Falls was not to be marveled at or held in great esteem but were held in great fear and were to be avoided at all costs.

That perspective changed the first time I went down into the gorge below the Falls (during summer of course – I wasn’t as crazy my ‘boys’ were to go in winter) and “discovered” the lower river. There, like Saul on the road to Damascus, I was overcome by the wonder of the river and consumed by the mystery of it.

I learned that there were actually two rivers, the “Upper Niagara” and the “Lower Niagara” which were as different as night is from day. One was an open spigot, empting out all the ‘Great Lakes’ in a roar and ravaging thunder – the other was life-force, cutting and craving across the earth, leaving a trail of history, raw beauty and attitude.

Born in Buffalo, raised in Riverside/Blackrock, it was only after returning from a tour of duty in Southeast Asia that I located to Niagara Falls and Lewiston. Living there for over forty years, my enchantment with ‘Niagara’ was expanded by touring, exploring and inhaling the joy of the ‘Lower’ river.

Much has been written about Niagara, most centered on the mighty ‘Falls’ itself, little on the Niagara Gorge and the ‘Lower’ river. Truly amazing, when one considers the extensive and exciting history that engulfs the entire ‘Niagara Escarpment’. Focused on making a living for my family, I wrote for myself over the years. This story, now I give to you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have in writing it.

Living now in Michigan, my heart remains down in the gorge, watching – feeling – listening to the “words of the water”. My prayer, like ‘the hermit’ is that I too can learn the lessons the water holds.

• Website:  www.bridgesataleofniagara.com
• Blog:  www.dklevick.wordpress.com
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