Every person has a story, but it takes determination to tell it. Kris Millgate discovered her story-telling grit long before she entered the world of book publishing. Millgate originally hails from the world of television, having hosted the news outdoor segment TimeOUT for 7 years before beginning her own venture, Tight Line Media.
Millgate is a woman who is always on the go. It wasn’t until she broke her leg and was forced into bed rest that she considered writing her first book. To make up for the lost time in the outdoors, she decided to explore her previous adventures through the long-form lens of storytelling. Although a more time-consuming medium, Millgate enjoyed the opportunity to revisit her previous experiences.
While in the process of writing My Place Among Men, Millgate briefly explored the journey of the Chinook Salmon, which venture from the ocean all the way to the Idaho wilderness. Once she was on her feet again, her next project became following their journey, a hefty task spanning hundreds of miles. The journey is documented in her self-produced Ocean to Idaho film and book, My Place Among Fish, which was released this August.
Exclusive Q&A
Finding My Place Among Fish with Kris Millgate
Q: What was the purpose of your journey following the salmon from the Ocean to Idaho?
A: The whole time I was on the road last summer by myself, it was about showing everybody what the salmon go through. What starts happening is you're on this journey with the fish and the fish are falling apart and all of the sudden you realize you're falling apart as well. There's broken cameras, bruises and stitches, and all these other deals going on because you're on the road solo during the pandemic. People are curious and they're watching and they're seeing your weekly updates and they're into it because they want to know about the fish. They have no idea they are trying to migrate and you're falling apart clearly in front of them because your camera's duct taped together and your ears are taped up. They're seeing all this. And so when I finished the production on the road and I came into the edit bay last winter, it was overwhelming.
Q: When did you start writing My Place Among Fish?
A: I started writing the first chapter in January. I wrote the fourth part in one day. The fourth part is all in Idaho. And you can tell that my connection to where we are is really strong and the pain over disappearing salmon is extremely high. And so those words just came out. I would edit the film for a few hours and then I would write, and it's a bit overwhelming to try to do two huge projects like that at the same time. But it was in the same room, so I already had all the research in and what it looked like, smelled like, felt like. I had all that from being on the road. So I could just translate it to that page. In a way, it's an overwhelming idea to put two projects on your plate at the same time, but because they're about the same topic, it was almost easier to do it in tandem.