Biographical Info Marine biologist Beth Ann Mathews is the author of Deep Waters: A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled, "a survival story of the highest order, navigating the complex terrain of marriage, medical crisis, and a future reimagined” (Caroline Van Hemert, author of The Sun is a Compass). In this intimate story of relationship resilience, Beth’s fulfilling life as a professor, field biologist, and mother in Alaska is upended when her healthy husband is slammed by a rare type of stroke triggered by a household chore. Jim’s radical approach to recovery clashes with Beth’s instinct to keep him safe at home and sets them on a collision course as he insists on ambitious sailing expeditions with Beth and their young son in Alaska’s magnificent yet unforgiving waters. Beth grew up in the Midwest and earned her master’s degree in marine biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. As a professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, for 20 years she taught courses in biology and marine mammalogy and led research on harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and harbor porpoises, primarily in Glacier Bay National Park. She has also studied humpback, gray, and sperm whales and—briefly—sleeper sharks, and led undergraduate research programs on board tall ships in the Gulf of Maine and from field camps in Hawaii and Alaska. She has published numerous scientific papers, and her debut book has won two prestigious awards. An engaging speaker and book club participant, Beth lives on an island in Puget Sound, Washington with her husband where they enjoy hiking and sailing. To learn more or to request a book club discussion questions or an organizer packet, visit elizabethannmathews.com/news-events.