I’ve had the pleasure of editing Blair’s column—and much of her other work for Outside—for many years. Over that time, we’ve gotten to know each other well, and she’s become a common name in my household. She sent cozy slippers to my son when he was born (we still have them and are waiting for my new baby to grow into them); my stepdaughter reads her books and articles religiously; I often describe Blair’s wild wellness experiments to my husband over dinner; and Blair and I text regularly about our adventures in motherhood.
But one thing Blair might not know is that ten years ago, not too long after I started working for Outside, I read her first book, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube. It’s a coming-of-age memoir about learning to survive and thrive in the harsh North, and it became one of my favorite books. At the time, I was going on mini climbing trips every weekend, sleeping out of my tent and eventually the back of my Tacoma, following adventure wherever I could. In that memoir, which focused heavily on dogsledding and remote environments, I saw in Blair a kindred spirit, someone who was also chasing her own thrills and discovering herself along the way.
As I read an early version of her new children’s book, The Day Leap Soared, to my three-year-old and six-month-old nearly a decade later, I imagined Blair reading the same words, pausing on the same pictures, with her two kids. I felt that old flash of recognition: here we were, Blair and I, once again traveling parallel paths through similar life stages.
Ahead of the release of The Day Leap Soared, which goes on sale on October 21, 2025, I interviewed Blair about what inspired her new book and what she hopes readers will take away from it.
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