Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and growing up on the east side of Pittsburgh in the small mill town of Turtle Creek, Jack Susco, 83, has been paddling the rivers of the Midwest and East since age 15, now doing so with both his grandson and my great grandson. And now other paddlers can benefit from his vast well of knowledge via his line of waterproof river map books of the region.
“My summer home is located right on the Allegheny River,” he says. “When I was 15, my uncle Mickey Mauritz started inviting me to join his group on primitive camping and fishing trips, which began my love for the wild and scenic Allegheny.” On those trips and others, he’d mark on his topo maps all the interesting and historical places that abound along the way.
“After 60 years of canoeing and kayaking many rivers around here, I realized it would be helpful to family and friends if I could record much of what I had learned and observed in the form of a waterproof topographic map guide that they could carry along with them on their adventures,” he says.
The result: Susco’s collection of 58 River Map Books, which represent 130 rivers in 12 states covering 11,174 water trail miles. Filled with need-to-know information, including tidbits on history, topography, access sites, hazard areas, camp sites, points of interest, regulations and safety tips in an easy-to-follow format, the map books are available as waterproof and rip proof hard copies or downloadable as PDFs. “It’s my hope that paddlers will find them useful and that they help them enjoy safe and exciting paddling adventures,” he says.
Bonus: Susco is also a talented artist, inspiring photography and fine art paintings also available for sale in a variety of affordable formats (under his artist name of Hanzer).
Order here: About | Kayak and Canoe PaddlersTopographic River Maps
