Off Belay: A Last Great Adventure

Off Belay marks the culmination of Jamie Shumway’s lifelong adventure. First captivated by nature fifty years ago on a school trip to Yosemite, the author devoted the rest of his life to the outdoors and to recreational pursuits, first in California and then in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he received his MEd and PhD degrees, and finally at West Virginia University, where he pursued a distinguished career in medical education.

This memoir—begun after Shumway received a diagnosis of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease—is as unique as the life of the author. As Shumway’s physical condition deteriorates, the logistics of telling his story become as complicated as planning a canoe trip through the Grand Canyon (one of Shumway’s great undertakings). Throughout the course of the book, which is told in stories, the author, with the assistance of a writing coach, sifts through the professional and personal events of a life well lived. Much of it had been lived outdoors: white-water boating, skiing, mountaineering, and rock-climbing.

Off Belay—a term that means the climber is not tethered to his fellow climbers—is the perfect metaphor for Shumway’s last ascent…the one he must make alone.