Living in towns or cities situated on the banks of the massive geographical feature that is the Mississippi River means different things to its many residents.

Beyond its dramatic rise and fall, the river affects everyday life in a variety of diverse ways, from the trivial — like endless opportunities for photographs of spectacular sunsets or as the landmark for finding East or West to those directionally challenged, like me — to the profound.

It is historically true that the river is responsible for creating a human culture unique to the people who have settled along its banks.

In addition to how the river affects us personally, it also serves as an essential vein of commerce contributing to a significant portion of the United States’ economy. Most of this commerce occurs through the transport of goods chugging up and down the river on barges pushed by tugboats operated by thousands of men and women responsible for keeping the river traffic flowing. Those individuals are the tiny figures we see moving about on the boats and barges as they glide by our perch on the bank of the river.

We are familiar with life along and beyond the levees, but how often do we think about what life is like for those who dwell between the levees?  Award-winning author and photographer Melody Golding of Vicksburg has provided an opportunity for us to see what life on the river is like in her new book, “Life Between the Levees:  America’s Riverboat Pilots.”

Golding has compiled fascinating oral histories of more than 100 mariners who work and live on the Mississippi River, its tributaries and the Intracoastal Waterway into this fabulous book filled with personal stories and beautiful photographs.

The lives of multi-generations of pilots featured in this book range from those who learned their trade working alongside steamboat pilots in the 1920s to those who are of the GPS generation and have grown up with technology.

You are invited to hear all about Life Between the Levees on Oct. 1 in a free event hosted by The Carolyn Vance Smith Natchez Literary Research Center in the Willie Mae Dunn Library at Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Natchez Campus.

Melody Golding and her son, Austin Golding, a third-generation mariner, will provide a glimpse into a life most of us would admit we know surprisingly little about. They will be introduced by James F. Barnett Jr., of Natchez, author of “Beyond Control: The Mississippi River’s New Channel to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Copies of Life Between the Levees, published this year by University Press of Mississippi, will be offered for purchase with a book-signing session from 5 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.  The cost of this beautiful cloth book is $50, with proceeds benefiting The Seamen’s Church Institute of New Orleans and New York.  The institute serves mariners through education, pastoral care and legal advocacy. At 5:30 p.m., Melody and Austin Golding will share some of the stories found in the book, giving us a glimpse of what life is like on the river.

All are welcome to join us in the library, located in the Tom Reed Academic Building, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, 11 Co-Lin Circle, for this special event. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information about the event or if you would like to preorder a copy of “Life Between the Levees,” please email beth.richard@colin.edu or call 601-446-1107.

Beth Richard is library director at the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Natchez Campus.