Adventurer Susan Purvis On Finding the Lost with Trusty Teammate Tasha

Susan Purvis, author GO FIND, with Tasha/Photo Courtesy Susan Purvis — Susan Purvis with beloved dog Tasha

By Stacey Gualandi/December 2018
Photos: Susan Purvis Collection

Don’t miss our BRAND NEW interview on The Women’s Eye Radio as Stacey Gualandi talks with Susan Purvis, the author of Go Find: My Journey To Find the Lost – and Myself, about the bond we ALL share with (wo)man’s best friend.

As the founder of Crested Butte Outdoors International, Susan Purvis is an expert wilderness medic and all-around adventure queen who became one of the top high-altitude search-and-rescue teams in Colorado – together with her trusty teammate Tasha, a beautiful black Labrador.

Go Find: My Journey to FInd the Lost--and Myself by Susan Purvis/Photo Courtesy Susan Purvis — Cover: Chris Ladoulis

I knew I’d love this book, and I could almost guarantee I would shed a few tears. I am a big dog lover (my license plate is “Muttmom” for goodness sake!) and my boss Pam Burke also is a dog devotee.

So it was quite touching to chat with Purvis from her home in Whitefish, Mont., the “creative haven” where she wrote about their personal journey to “go find” the lost.

An avalanche that took the life of a 6 year old inspired Purvis to adopt a 5-week-old puppy in 1995 and train her in avalanche, wilderness and water recovery. Purvis says it would become a relationship like none other.

“I know I’ll never bond with another being like I have with Tasha,” she writes in her first memoir.

Purvis shares dramatic stories of dozens of missions they led. Miraculously, some lives were saved, and sadly, many were lost forever.

While they were determined to help those who needed saving, Purvis says she made a discovery of her own along the way: she had lost herself. It was Tasha, she writes, who was “saving me from being buried in my own avalanche.”

Susan Purvis, author Go Find, at Javits Center NYC/Photo Courtesy Susan Purvis — Susan with friend at NY Book Expo America. Javits Center, NYC

With unflinching honesty about fulfilling promises, accepting divorce, competing in a male-dominated profession (“I had to prove myself three times more than men”), and saying goodbye, Go Find shows how making a canine connection can help one “find passion, purpose and philanthropy.”

Purvis says this journey is one of her greatest achievements.

Looking for adventure, or want an inspiring book to gift travelers this holiday season? National Geographic has just selected Go Find as one of the best travel books to read now. Congratulations, Susan!