The Joy of High Places

They didn’t know it, but Patti Miller and her brother, Barney, shared something in common — a passion for the illuminating joy of wild nature — with all its challenges and dangers.


In this extraordinary and unexpected book, Patti tells the story of her own long-distance walking over hundreds of kilometres in Europe and of her brother’s obsession with paragliding.


During their shared childhood on a farm these siblings were virtual strangers under the same roof. As adults, a tragic accident changes their relationship. One day, Barney’s wing collapses and he plummets to earth, breaking his spine. The story of his struggle to walk again intersects Patti’s long-distance journeys, creating an intense narrative of determination and triumph. 


For Patti, walking is a radical act — a return to what has made us all human — that bestows a connection to wild nature and to creativity itself. But as she listens to her pragmatic and methodical brother tell his story, she learns that flying is his door to untrammelled joy too. She realises that she is ‘meeting’ him for the very first time.


This beautiful and inspiring book tells that story and reveals that the siblings share a willingness to take risks and an indefatigable determination. And much besides.