Walking the Tideline - (Road Going Home) by Caroline Kurtz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In Walking the Tideline, Caroline Kurtz solo hikes the rugged, beautiful Oregon Coast-an expedition of isolation, adventure, joy, and grief inside the emotional wilderness of finding one's identity after the death of a loved one.

In her third memoir, Portland-based author Caroline Kurtz travels the coast of Oregon on foot in her late sixties, tracing the boundary of sand and salt water, rock and forests, carrying her shelter and food as she navigates the edges of solace and resolution after the death of her husband. During her journey, Kurtz grieves as she reflects on her long, and at times rocky, marriage to Mark, whom she had known and loved since she was a teenager in boarding school in Ethiopia. As she navigates the adventures encountered along the trail--leaky tents, hitching rides, chance encounters, and beautiful landscapes--she intertwines the historical events of coastal Oregon with her spiritual experience, giving space for the shattering of an old identity and the planting of a new self, nourished and enlightened by the depths of a profoundly complex and considered life.

Kurtz spent her early years in Oregon before her parents moved her and her siblings to remote Ethiopia, where she spent her childhood and teen years, before returning to America for college, where she reunited with and married Mark. The two lived variously in Portland, Ethiopia, and Kenya, and retired to Portland, where Caroline now lives.

Review Quotes

"Walking the Tideline invites us to join Caroline Kurtz on an intimate journey of self-discovery along the Oregon Coast Trail in the wake of her husband's passing. Written with warmth and honesty, we experience the beauty, exhaustion, and healing of a sandy pilgrimage anchored in grief, yet longing for release. A story brave in its revelations, and satisfying in its insights, it's a book that stays with you." - Henry Trotter, author ofCape Town: A Place Between

"[Kurtz] is an artistic wordsmith, and it was my privilege to have her as my right arm at Wunlit where the people made their peace become real, mal mi chum-chum, sweet peace, for a time." -- Bill Lowrey, Facilitator of Wunlit (South Sudan) People-to-People peace conference

"[R]eal, raw and truly a sacred story... Kurtz shares her personal vulnerability with readers, creating not just an intellectual exploration of cross-cultural differences, but rather a heart-wrenching witness of what it means to give one's whole life...not knowing whether one's hopes or intentions will be realized. I recommend her story to anyone willing to dive deep into their own heart to face the haunting challenges and contradictions of seeking to do God's will when there are no simple solutions." -- Rev Dr. Sue Hudson, The Presbyterian Outlook

"I loved it. This is a beautifully written, poetic memoir. She intertwines memories of her [...] life with current experience. The hike [along the Oregon Coast Trail] enabled her to shed her old identity and find a new one." -Sr. Sarah Schwartzberg, OSB, Spirit&Life

About the Author

Caroline Kurtz lived in Ethiopia from ages 5-18 and worked in Kenya and Sudan as an adult. After her husband Mark died in 2013, Caroline started a nonprofit organization to bring solar energy and women's development to Maji, still beyond the grid, in the corner of Ethiopia where she grew up. See DevelopMaji.org and https: //carolinekurtzauthor.com/ for more information. She now lives in Portland, Oregon.