Man journeys back from a stroke in a remote Idaho landscape in "On the Dark Side of the Moon"

With frozen black rivers and craters and cliffs as sharp as glass, Craters of the Moon National Monument is an alien environment, more lunar than earthly. Conservationist Mike Medberry worked to protect this area and it was here he found himself lying on the ground alone contemplating his death. He’d suffered a stroke while separated from his companions in the trailless terrain.

Medberry’s rescue is a small part of the story of “On the Dark Side of the Moon: A Journey Toward Recovery.” Medberry must relearn everything — how to form a sentence, how to use a toothbrush, how to use money. He intertwines his personal story of starting over after devastation with an account of the struggle to protect an unparalleled Idaho landscape.

Medberry has served as a senior environmentalist for local and national conservation organizations.