In Part 2 of our deep dive into Ruthless River by Holly FitzGerald, we pick up with Holly and Gerald William FitzGerald drifting down the Madre de Dios River, still riding the high of survival and convinced the river is guiding them safely toward Riberalta, Bolivia.

Before the chaos unfolds, we explore the river itself. The Madre de Dios, meaning Mother of God, was once called Amarumayo, the River of the Serpents, by Indigenous communities because of its twisting, unpredictable path. It stretches more than 700 miles through Peru and Bolivia and ultimately feeds into the greater Amazon basin. It is powerful, remote, and anything but forgiving.

What begins in “Huck Finn mode,” inspired by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, quickly unravels.

In this episode, we cover:

• Being shot at by border guards when arriving at the Heath River checkpoint in the dark
• An invasive search that leaves them shaken and without key supplies
• Brutal heat that turns the Pink Palace into a floating oven
• A violent nighttime storm that rips their shelter apart and fire ants
• Getting swept into a flooded dead end logjam with almost no food left
• Abandoning the Pink Palace to paddle for survival on a tiny raft
• Spotting a plane overhead that never circles back

By February 23rd, they are five days stranded, starving, exhausted, and clinging to hope.

Part 3 is where everything changes.

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In this episode, we’re diving into the unbelievable true survival story told in Ruthless River by Holly FitzGerald, a book I truly could not put down. It is an exciting, heart pounding, and deeply inspiring account of how a dream honeymoon turned into a fight for survival in the Amazon jungle.

Holly and her husband, Gerald William FitzGerald, known as Fitz, set out to travel the world on a modest budget. They never imagined that their trip of a lifetime could have been their last.

Before we get into the chaos of the jungle, we are unpacking the backstory of Holly and Fitz. From a chance meeting at a Halloween party in Boston in 1969 to marrying just five months later, their love story is bold from the very beginning.

They saved carefully from their modest jobs, Holly as a counselor and teacher and Fitz as a journalist, in order to fund a yearlong honeymoon traveling the globe. What started as an ambitious backpacking journey through South America slowly transformed into something far more dangerous.

In Part 1, we cover the major turning points that shifted their honeymoon into survival mode:

• Fighting through a desperate crowd to secure seats on a small plane leaving the Peruvian jungle
• Surviving a terrifying plane crash landing in a remote clearing
• Discovering that the crash site was actually a Peruvian penal colony surrounded by some of the country’s most dangerous inmates
• Realizing they had missed the last commercial boat out of Puerto Maldonado
• Making the bold decision to build a handmade raft and float nearly 500 miles down the Madre de Dios River

By the end of this episode, Holly and Fitz are launching their bright pink tarp covered raft, “The Pink Palace,” into a rising and unpredictable river, convinced it will carry them safely to Bolivia. What they do not yet understand is that the river has other plans.

Part 2 covers their first five days on the river. Part 3 dives into the unimaginable ordeal that followed and the rescue that brought them home.

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Welcome back to Props with Pop where we are currently on part 2 of discussing the famous book, How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. In part 1, we discussed the many genuine ways in which we can win friends, and in this episode, we are going to discuss the ways in which we can genuinely influence people, with respect and trust.

In this second part, we discuss the following themes & examples:

• Why Winning an Argument Often Costs More Than It Gives
• Benjamin Franklin and Avoiding Arguments
• The Strength of Admitting You Are Wrong
• Admitting Mistakes Quickly
• Helping People Feel Like the Idea Is Theirs
• Letting Others Feel Ownership
• Encouragement Changes People More Than Criticism
• Praise Progress, Not Perfection
• Showing Sympathy First
• Giving People a Fine Reputation

Then Becs & Pops answer some write-in stories related to the book:

1. Emily, 22 - College senior, part-time barista
2. Jake, 27 - Sales coordinator, first corporate job
3. Sarah, 19 - First year college student
4. Ryan, 30 - New dad, project manager
5. Olivia, 24 - Marketing assistant, hybrid work schedule

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• X: @TotalGDaddyMove
• Gmail: Propswithpop@gmail.com

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