Voyage of Adventure: Retracing Donelson’s Journey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 19, 2018
Contact: MiChelle Jones, NPT

NPT’s ‘Voyage of Adventure’ about Photographer John Guider’s History-Inspired

River Project, Premieres on NPT Thursday, July 26, at 8 p.m. 

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – In 2016, photographer John Guider took to the water in a small boat of his own making and retraced surveyor John Donelson’s 1,000-mile journey from the northwest corner of Tennessee to Nashville. Voyage of Adventure: Retracing Donelson’s Journey, an NPT original documentary, premieres Thursday, July 26, at 8 p.m. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kathy Mattea narrates the one-hour program, which was produced by NPT’s Will Pedigo.

Click here to see a promo for the documentary. And here for an interview with John Guider, which you may quote.

 Voyage of Adventure includes stunning river footage, excerpts from Donelson’s journal and images shot by Guider during his autumn excursion. “By being on the river, just a few feet above the waterline, I get to view nature in a very unique way,” Guider says in the documentary. “I’m on the water looking up at nature. And I’m looking up in celebration, and in awe, and reverence.”

“John Guider pulled me into this adventure,” Pedigo told The Tennessean recently. “We shared many trips, shooting across Middle and East Tennessee, in all seasons and weather conditions, on the rivers and in the mountains.”

Parallels between Guider’s journey and that of the Donelson party are found throughout the documentary, making the film both a historical exploration and a celebration of Guider’s love of Tennessee’s natural heritage. “Part of my mission is to educate and illuminate and make people aware of how precious this landscape is,” Guider told NPT.

Additional broadcast times for Voyage of Adventure: Retracing Donelson’s Journey are below; the documentary will also be available for online viewing at wnpt.org/voyage-of-adventure/.

  • Monday, July 30, at 8 a.m. on NPT2
  • Tuesday, July 31, at 1 p.m. on NPT2
  • Wednesday, Aug. 22, at 8:30 p.m. on NPT
  • Friday, Aug. 24, at 8:30 a.m. on NPT2
  • Saturday, Aug. 25, 10:30 p.m. on NPT

This NPT original production is in partnership with The Tennessean. Major funding for Voyage of Adventure was provided by The Anne Potter Wilson Foundation, Bank of America, N.A. Trustee; Martin S. Brown Jr. and the MSB Cockayne Fund; Gilbert S. Merritt; and Dell. Additional support was provided by Eileen Beehan; Sally Pack Farms; Karen Dunn Cochran; Julie Davis; Rachel Stockley Donelson Chapter, DAR; Sally L. Dunn; Andrew Donelson Dunn; Calvin and Marilyn Lehew; and Ophelia Paine.

About Nashville Public Television: Nashville Public Television, Nashville’s PBS station, is available free and over-the-air to nearly 2.4 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area. NPT’s three broadcast channels are NPT, the main channel; secondary channel NPT2; and NPT3, a 24/7 PBS Kids channel. NPT is also available to anyone in the world through its array of NPT digital services, including wnpt.org, YouTube channels and the PBS video app. NPT provides, through the power of traditional television and interactive digital communications, quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve. Join the conversation at facebook.com/nashvillepublictelevision and on Twitter @npt8.