ALUMNI NEWS

Taking a Dip

By Blaire Leible

Cliff diving. Swimming. Exploring. For many people, these terms bring to mind an adventure or vacation. But for Pancho Doll, BJ, BA ’86, these words describe a day on the job.

Doll, publisher of Running Water Publications, was profiled in the Aug. 22 edition of People magazine, which featured his books on swimming holes. The book series, Day Trips With a Splash, is composed of guide books that inform the reader of more than 700 swimming holes across America. In the article, Doll defines swimming holes as fresh, clean moving water in a river or creek that is at least six feet deep. So far, his critically acclaimed series includes four books: one on the Southeast, one on the Southwest, one on the Northeast and one on California. His next book is temporarily on hold.

“I was researching the fifth book, a guide to the Pacific Northwest, but the People magazine story created so much publicity that I’ve had to suspend research and devote all of my attention to operations,” Doll says.

So, how does someone become interested in swimming holes?

“For one entire summer when I was eight years old, my purple swimming trunks were my sole undergarment,” Doll says. “To the best of my, or anyone else’s recollection, I never took them off. And why should I? Whether skipping stones, diving off logs or doing spectacular parabolic exits from a rope swing, wet was the only way to stay during humid midwestern summers. A boy had to be committed to his swim shorts,” Doll says.

Doll attended Mizzou’s School of Journalism before beginning his career.

“Probably the most valuable skill in journalism is learning how to walk up to strangers, start talking to them, and make them want to talk back to you. It’s cultivating sources and learning about people’s stories,” Doll says.

After graduating from Mizzou, Doll worked as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. He also worked at a small daily newspaper in California, the Hollister Free Lance, where he covered agriculture, among other newsbeats. It was there that he became interested in book publishing.

“I soon learned that the migrant workers I was conditioned to write about with compassion were in fact earning more money than I was. I felt certain that book publishing could provide at least as much income,” Doll says.

Doll’s adventures have given him the opportunity to meet numerous interesting people.

“The only thing I love more than finding a good place to jump in, is finding a person who has a personal story about the spot,” Doll says.

Last summer, Doll went cliff diving with actors John C. McGinley (best known for his work on the Scrubs TV series) and John Cusack (whose credits include the movies Identity, Runaway Jury and Being John Malkovich).

“They were just a couple of guys you might sit next to at a baseball game … especially because I didn’t know who either was,” Doll says. “I rarely go to movies, haven’t owned a television since I was at Mizzou, and didn’t even repair the radio in my truck when it broke a few years ago. So when Cusack’s assistant phoned to book the trip, I was gonna pass. But friends told me about Cusack’s reputation as a down-to-earth sort,” Doll says.

Doll’s adventures aren’t always so fun and relaxing. Some are downright dangerous.

“During research on the Southeast book, a heat shield on my engine came loose and spent an unknown period of time vibrating against a brake line. It weakened the soft metal to the point that, while descending the Cumberland Plateau, I tapped the pedal and the tube ruptured, sending the pressurized fluid spewing and leaving me at the top of a steep, winding descent with no brakes. I was able to downshift and use the hand brake to arrive safely at an auto shop in a little country town. The man fixed my brakes for less than I imagined and told me about a swimming hole I would not have found otherwise,” Doll says.

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Last Update: July 2, 2008