The Gateway Outdoor Expo + Summit is proud to announce Eddy L. Harris — acclaimed author, lecturer, filmmaker, and lifelong traveler — as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Gateway Outdoor Summit, taking place Friday, November 14, at the St. Charles Convention Center.

A native of St. Louis, Harris is best known for his books Mississippi Solo, Native Stranger, South of Haunted Dreams, and Still Life in Harlem — works that blend memoir, travelogue, and cultural reflection to explore questions of race, identity, and belonging.

As USA Today wrote, “Eddy Harris isn’t your everyday tourist. His travels almost always have a purpose: to write about not only what he sees, but what he feels.”

Harris found his voice in 1985 when he set out alone in a canoe to paddle the Mississippi River, a transformative 2,000-mile journey that became Mississippi Solo and launched his literary career.

Nearly three decades later, he retraced that voyage in his award-winning documentary River to the Heart, reflecting on how both he and the nation had changed.

In his keynote address, “Call of the Wild,” Harris will share how the outdoors became his sanctuary and his teacher.

“The call to the wild saved my soul, and possibly my life,” he says.

 

Eddy L. Harris. (Courtesy of Eddy L. Harris)

From a boyhood spent fishing in St. Louis city parks to confronting the great river itself, Harris’s story speaks to the power of nature to awaken self-knowledge, courage, and connection.

Harris will also join the panel “Where the Current Leads: Tales from the Big Rivers” at the Gateway Outdoor Expo on Saturday, November 15, alongside other source-to-sea paddlers.

Harris has served as Writer in Residence and professor of English, Creative Writing, and African American Studies at institutions including Washington University in St. Louis and Goucher College in Maryland.

Educated at Stanford University, he has traveled the world yet remains deeply rooted in his Midwestern beginnings.

The Gateway Outdoor Summit brings together outdoor industry professionals, nonprofit leaders, educators, and advocates to explore how recreation connects people to purpose, community, and the natural world.

The Summit precedes the Gateway Outdoor Expo, the Midwest’s largest outdoor recreation show, held November 15-16 at the St. Charles Convention Center in St. Charles, Mo.

For more information and free registration, visit here.

Top image: Eddy L. Harris. (Courtesy of Eddy L. Harris)