Speakers
John Ruskey
John Ruskey is a worker bee in the colony of his Queen, the Mississippi River. He is the author of the Wild Miles (www.wildmiles.org) and the Rivergator: Paddler's Guide to the Lower Mississippi River (www.rivergator.org). John was the first curator of the Delta Blues Museum (1992-98) and is co-founder of the Delta Blues Education Fund. In 1998 he founded the Mighty Quapaws Apprenticeship Program for the youth of the Mississippi Delta. In 2011 he founded the Lower Mississippi River Foundation for access, education, and the betterment of public outdoor recreation on the Middle & Lower Mississippi Rivers. He is owner and founder of the Quapaw Canoe Company, which will celebrate its 28th anniversary in 2026, and provides guiding & outfitting to the raw wild power & beauty of the Mississippi River, range extends from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico. He is founding member of One Mississippi. In 2019 John was awarded the Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters: “Through his writing, his music, his watercolors, his environmental efforts, his work with young Mississippians, and his knowledge of Mississippi’s great river.” In 2022 John was awarded the St. John’s College Award of Merit for distinguished and meritorious service to the United States, to the Mississippi River, and for “outstanding achievement in the arts and exploration.” John was the SBA 2024 Small Business Person of the Year Award for the State of Mississippi.