Soul Is Waterproof
Soul is Waterproof is about a love of open water adventure swimming, but more so, it is about a love affair with water itself. Whether it be water quality and coastal erosion in New Orleans; swimming the Caribbean while testing for plastics; crossing infant coral reefs in Costa Rica; or navigating the Colorado and Green Rivers through Canyonlands; Soul is Waterproof shows how water will be the defining issue of our times.
Much more than a book about swimming, Soul is Waterproof shows how people can’t live where fish can’t swim. Stories of alligators, snakes, explorers, sultry boat captains and characters of all sorts reveal themselves along in the current.
What people are saying…
“Readers of ‘Soul is Waterproof’ by Matt Moseley will receive a lesson in leadership and sustainability through the lens of experiential education. As Moseley shares his swimming adventures from around the world, it becomes clear that water has much to teach us about our fragile planet and its survival. The combination of experiencing what type of leadership it takes to navigate these very different rivers, lakes, and seas and understanding how water differentially affects the lives of populations throughout the world is a unique way to illustrate the impact of water on the survival of the earth.”
Philip P. DiStefano, Chancellor, University of Colorado Boulder
“Moseley takes us on a journey through the centuries and around the world to examine our collective relationship to that most essential element, water. More than a mere travelog or adventure story – but certainly full of adventures! – ‘Soul is Waterproof’ is a reminder to take nothing for granted; to live life to the fullest and take good care of what matters most: the people and resources that make life possible.”
James Edwards
“Soulful storytelling by an Ambassador of Water, ‘Soul is Waterproof’ joins at a confluence rich, diverse characters such as John Wesley Powell, Sarah Thomas, Hanya Yangihara, Lord Byron, and Captain Matthew Webb, among others illuminated by Moseley’s torch. Relationships with the essence of life, amidst anthropogenic climate change, are the current of this book. I imagine Coco Robicheaux blessing it—perhaps water, as a spirit, too.”
Jason Robison, Professor, University of Wyoming College of Law; Editor, Cornerstone at the Confluence: Navigating the Colorado River Compact’s Next Century and Vision & Place: John Wesley Powell & Reimagining the Colorado River Basin
“What Matt is swimming is mind boggling. The physical commitment and logistics are nuts. But maybe we need some level of human craziness to make people realize there is a growing, huge problem with our water and rivers that supply it.”
Pete McBride, National Geographic photographer and journalist
ROUTLEDGE ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF “IGNITION” BY MATTHEW L. MOSELEY
February 3, 2021
“Ignition” is a book of dispatches from the frontlines of communication strategy that is being called “a must-read for anyone who wants to harness the power of communication.” Author Matthew L. Moseley draws on his eclectic life experiences to investigate the link between success and effective communication. The book was released by Routlege/Taylor & Francis on June 1, 2021, and is available now for sale.
What people are saying…
“In a moment where it feels like the world is spinning off its axis, Moseley’s energetic and readable romp through the world of high-stakes communications delivers the stabilizing clarity of basic, enduring truths. Yes, we tell ourselves stories in order to live — but we only believe storytellers we trust. You can trust Moseley to craft compelling, credible narratives because he’s genuine and has never lost sight of what really matters. I hope every communications flack finds and learns from this excellent book.”
Eli Stokols, White House Cerrespondent, Los Angeles Times
DEAR DR. THOMPSON
Felony Murder, Hunter S. Thompson and the Last Gonzo Campaign
Hunter Thompson at the Colorado State Capitol
“Most of my memos get lost in the ether and there was no telling what would happen, but I had some small inkling that sending a memo to Hunter about Lisl was not all that dissimilar to sending a memo to Truman Capote about a murder in Kansas.
The difference here was that I had Hunter’s fax number.”
Sometimes the only thing it takes to change a life is a letter.
While serving a life sentence at Colorado Women’s Correctional Facility in Cañon City, twenty-five-year-old Lisl Auman wrote an off-chance letter to legendary Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson complaining that his books were not available in the prison library.
Lisl’s tragic journey began in 1997 when she took a ride in the Thunder Chicken — a freshly stolen red Trans Am — with skinhead Matthaeus Jaehnig. Their brief and devastating journey resulted in the death of Denver Police Officer Bruce VanderJagt. Jaehnig shot VanderJagt then turned the gun on himself — all while Auman was already in handcuffs in a police cruiser. Two officers later changed their testimony and said they saw Auman hand Jaehnig the murder weapon and she was sentenced to life without parole.
After reading Lisl’s letter, Thompson rallied to action and began a movement to free Lisl.
Upon hearing of Thompson’s efforts, communications strategist Matthew L. Moseley wrote his own memo to Thompson, outlining how to organize a grassroots campaign to free Lisl Auman from prison while taking on the Draconian felony murder law. Dear Dr. Thompson chronicles Lisl’s epic struggles and takes you inside the last — and perhaps greatest — Gonzo crusade. It is a cautionary tale about death, destruction, lies, justice, the power of media and ultimately, forgiveness
“Today it’s Lisl Auman, but tomorrow it could be you, me, us.”
Hunter S. Thompson
What people are saying…
“It is strange how fact can be stranger than fiction. If you put Lisl’s case into a script, nobody, but nobody would believe things worked out the way they did. Lisl is a victim and every damn one of us knows he who fears the flashing lights in the rearview mirror are also victims.”
Benicio Del Toro, actor
“Hunter Thompson fought tirelessly for Lisl Auman, on the theory that by doing so he was protecting the rights of all of us. Matthew Moseley provides a colorful and well-researched chronicle of the crusade, which would make Hunter proud.”
Walter Isaacson, President of the Aspen Institute, former editor of Time and CEO of CNN; biographer of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger
“During the years before Hunter S Thompson’s death, the Gonzo legend befriended communications strategist, Matthew Moseley. Together they crusaded to have a potentially innocent woman released from prison. Dear Dr. Thompson expertly tells the dramatic story of the Free Lisl campaign which rocked Colorado.”
Douglas Brinkley, Author, Presidential Historian and literary executor for estate of Hunter Thompson
“I was greatly disturbed by the Lisl Auman case and how she became the fall girl for the rash of skinhead violence occurring at the time. Matt Moseley’s book describes in horrifying detail how individual citizens can get ground up in the legal system — and why it is important to correct those injustices. I was proud to have stood with Hunter Thompson in his last — and maybe most important — crusade.”
Morris Dees, Southern Poverty Law Center
“Matthew Moseley has written a book where “Lawyers, Guns and Money” became more than just a song — it became the touchstone for the campaign to free Lisl Auman. Dear Dr. Thompson tells the story of how Hunter Thompson inspired my late husband , Warren Zevon, to leap into the first and only political activism of his life. Moseley’s book is a rock and roll report of one of Warren Zevon’s — and Hunter Thompson’s — proudest legacies.”
Crystal Zevon, Author of I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon
“FANTASTIC!! As fine as anything I have read in years. Gripping, thorough and rather than demonizing the police or even the perpetrator, it is a real life drama that exceeds anything that most fictional thrillers ever portray.”
David Amram, instrumentalist for Jack Kerouac and Composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic
Download Press Release
Buy the book
DEAR DR. THOMPSON
Felony Murder, Hunter S. Thompson and
the Last Gonzo Campaign
Buy the documentary about Lisl Auman by Wayne Ewing
FREE LISL: FEAR AND LOATHING IN DENVER
Artist Ralph Steadman’s interpretation of Lisl’s trial, with a note from Hunter Thompson to the author Matthew Moseley in the margin.