About Miscalculated Risks: Attacked, Crippled, Paralyzed, Drowning, Unconscious and Freezing in The Wild (Just Not All at Once)
Michael Cooper was compulsively drawn to perilous places. It nearly got him killed over a half-dozen times. In its action-packed, often-comical pages, Miscalculated Risks recounts how Cooper’s increasingly dangerous ventures far into wilderness landed him in dire situations: mortally wounded in a Mexican jungle, twenty roadless miles from the nearest medical facility. Half-drowned and severely hypothermic on an isolated Oregon river, shooting sixty-nine miles of rapids during a weeklong blizzard. Deathly sick and out of water in sun-scorched desert . . . Retelling the near-fatal adventures in Cooper’s own words, Miscalculated Risks introduces a mix of unforgettable characters: the superhuman mill worker and the ADHD-tormented tax assessor, Cooper’s quirky cohorts on over thirty mountaineering ascents. And the charismatic hippie, offbeat national park ranger and reckless journalist who join Cooper on thirteen daring expeditions on foot through five trackless deserts—including to places where nobody in recorded history had gone before.
Author bio:
Michael Cooper’s journalism career spans four decades and over five hundred articles written for seven pro-audio magazines and Wired. A noted authority on music production and sound for film, he has served as recording engineer on projects featuring Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt and former weekend anchor of ABC World News Barry Serafin, and worked with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ashley Cleveland. A Contributing Editor for Mix magazine (and formerly for Electronic Musician), his spare time has been devoted to backpacking, climbing, hiking, skiing and rafting eight thousand miles in the wilds of North America—grist for the harrowing stories recounted in Miscalculated Risks: Attacked, Crippled, Paralyzed, Drowning, Unconscious and Freezing in The Wild (Just Not All at Once). He lives with his wife in Central Oregon.
For more photographs and video of Michael’s adventures, visit his website: https://michaelcooperadventurer.com.