Taking you to places where no person has ever gone before, and blending memoir, adventure, and science, Into the Planet is a riveting account of one of the most dangerous yet exhilarating pursuits in the world.
As one of the most celebrated cave divers in the world, Jill Heinerth has seen the planet in a way almost no one has. In a workday, she might swim below your home, through conduits in volcanoes or cracks in the world’s largest iceberg. She’s an explorer, a scientist’s eyes and hands underwater—discovering new species and examining our finite freshwater reserves—and a filmmaker documenting the wonders of underwater life. She tests the limits of human endurance at every tight turn, risking her life with each mission. To not only survive in this world but excel, Jill has had to learn how to master fear like no other.
With gripping storytelling, and radiating with intimacy, Into the Planet will transport you deep into the most exquisite, untouched corners of the earth, where fear must be reconciled and the innermost parts of the human condition are revealed.
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Praise for Into The Planet – My Life as a Cave Diver
“Wrestles with the human compulsion to . . . explore a world that is every bit as hostile as it is beautiful. . . . A very vivid book. . . . Ms. Heinerth is very good at making you understand both the otherworldly euphoria and claustrophobic horror of cave diving.”
-Wall Street Journal
“Superb, honest, incredibly engaging . . . a captivating biography and a love letter to a sport where any small mistake can result in death—and any perfect dive can mean an amazing discovery.”
-NPR
Dr. Robert Ballard, Oceanographer & Discover of the RMS Titanic
“Cave divers are another breed, which I never truly understood; that was until I met Jill Heinerth on a cave diving trip off Santa Cruz Island and had a chance to read her new book “Into the Planet”, which helped to explain it all! A Must Read!”
Ken McGoogan, author of Fatal Passage and Flight of the Highlanders
“By turns terrifying, exhilarating, and inspirational, Into the Planet celebrates the fine madness of deep-sea cave-diving. Talk about extreme adventure. If you don’t know the name Jill Heinerth, prepare to be dazzled and astonished. Move over, Jon Krakauer. This well-written memoir is destined to become a world classic of exploration literature.”
“Shadow Diver” Richie Kohler, shipwreck explorer, author, and filmmaker
“From the opening pages we are immersed into a beautiful and incredibly dangerous world of subterranean water choked passageways that seem to twist deeply into an endless dark labyrinth. As light envelopes crevice’s long cloaked in darkness, it illuminates a world of mystery and adventure that mirror this incredible explorer’s life. Casting aside barriers and maneuvering through restrictions both above and below the water, Jill Heinerth’ s lifelong passion to explore the most hidden recesses of our world has driven her to boldly go where – quite literally – no one had gone before.
“Into the Planet” takes us along on her awe-inspiring adventures and is a revelation for those willing to forge ahead that there are still untamed and unexplored places awaiting; oceans of opportunity exist right beneath our very feet, if we are willing to push the limits of conventional knowledge, and explore what most will never see. www.MysteryofTheLastOlympian.com
Diana Nyad, long-distance swimmer and author of Find a Way
“I can guarantee you one thing: Jill Heinerth will not look back on her life with any regrets about a lack of bravery or passion. In this gripping, life-of-gusto story, we plunge into Heinerth’s eccentric world of death-defying caves, and into her inner sanctum forged by the thrill of discovery. I read wide-eyed, page after page.”
Clara Hughes, 6-time Olympic medalist and author of Open Heart, Open Mind
“One sentence into the phenomenal life story of Jill Heinerth and you’ll be hooked. Be prepared for a wild, wonderful, and deeply inspiring journey into places few people get to know, let alone experience. Into The Planet is a beautifully crafted memoir that inspires us all to defy limits imposed, connect us to this precious planet, and follow our passions in life.”
James M. Tabor, author of Blind Descent and Forever on the Mountain
“Every form of extreme endeavor produces a pre-eminent practitioner: Messner in mountains, Honnold on rock, Ballard in oceans. As Into the Planet eloquently demonstrates, for cave diving it may well be Jill Heinerth. Her newest book chronicles, in chiseled prose, a lifetime pursuing science and discovery in exploration’s most lethal and least forgiving discipline. Time and again, Heinerth has ventured into realms where mishap can, quite literally, take your breath away. Just reading about her exploits can do the same—happily with less final results. And there is this: like all cave divers, Heinerth operated in the “overhead environment”—a ceiling of solid rock. Unlike them, she had to break through another overhead environment that was, if less deadly, certainly more insidious: a glass ceiling of gender-based prejudice and animus. The fact that she prevailed against both makes her exploits even more remarkable and her story all the more compelling.”
“Written in cinematic detail, Into the Planet is a thrilling portrait of bravery, innovation, and the extreme limits of human capability.”
-Amy Brady, Editor-in-Chief, The Chicago Review of Books
“Science and adventure far beneath the sea. This must-read memoir looks back at an amazing career and provides insight into parts of the world that few of us will ever see in person.”
– Amazon Best Books of the Month
“Exhilarating . . . Heinerth offers a fish’s-eye view of the terrifying beauty of the deep blue sea.”
-O Magazine
Jill has been traveling the world to promote her book but recently suspended in-person presentations due to the coronavirus outbreak following the advice provided by Health Canada. She has already met with fans in New York City, Syracuse, Allison Park PA, Willoughby Ohio, Quincy MA, West Chester PA, Fort Lauderdale Fl, Fort White Fl, High Springs, Fl, Lancaster PA, Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Almonte, Perth, Carleton Place, Mississauga, Oakville, St. Catherines, Port Credit, Zurich Switzerland, Beverly Hills, Sandusky, OH, Washington DC, California MD, Hartford CT, Charlottesville VA, Raleigh NC, Greensboro NC, Greenville NC, Greenville, SC, High Point NC, Orlando, and more! She looks forward to rescheduling events with the Aspen Institute, Explorers Club, TEDx, TEDx Salon, Reef Gala, Ontario Water Works, Niagara Divers Association, Beneath the Sea Dive Show, TekDiveUSA, Probus Clubs, and others.
BOOK CLUBS
Into the Planet discussion questions
- “I had been born an explorer, just like every other being on earth,” writes Jill. Do you feel like an explorer? If you don’t now, did you once? How has your curiosity evolved over time?
- How do you think Jill came to a place of being able to control her fear? Do you think her bravery is hardwired within her, learned, or both? Are there any lessons on mastering fear in the book that resonated with you and that you would like to apply in your own life?
- When Jill’s life began to feel monotonous, she turned to scuba diving. Can you relate to her feelings of inertia? Have you ever longed for a stronger connection to the natural world? Are there any hobbies or pursuits that you’d be interested in taking up but that you haven’t yet incorporated into your life?
- Jill chose not to pursue legal action against her former partners at the design firm after they shut her out of their business. Do you understand why she did this? What did she gain by making this choice? And what do you think you would have done in her shoes?
- Jill is familiar with the feeling of breaking new ground—from being the first to dive inside an iceberg to breaking diving records to being a woman in a male-dominated sphere. What is the benefit in being a trailblazer, and what are the potential downsides? Have you ever been the first person in your family or extended circle to break new ground in some way? What was that experience like?
- Have you ever been scuba diving? If not, would you like to? Has Into the Planet increased or decreased your interest in diving? And did the book teach you anything about diving—or the people who love it—that surprised you?
- Were you surprised that Jill dove again after getting the bends? Do you understand why the risk is worth it to her? What do you think cave diving adds to her life? Do you have any passions or hobbies that you cannot imagine living without?
- “I dance in the joy of uncertainty,” writes Jill. Every day in Jill’s profession is wildly different, and she has to contend with the potentially fatal risks of her work. What is your relationship with uncertainty? Is it something that has changed through the years? Is it something you would like to work on? Is Jill’s approach to uncertainty something you might like to try to emulate? Why or why not?
