"The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare to let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure."
- Richard Bach, author
For Captain Alex Grieves, skipper of the Spirit of Peoria paddle-wheeler, the voyage and the adventure are truly his work.
Though it’s impossible author Richard Bach had Grieves’ experiences as a riverboat pilot in mind when penning those words for his 1977 novel, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah,” they couldn’t fit the 39 year-old son of Peoria’s former mayor, Bud Grieves, any better.