Lynne Cox at the University Bookstore

There aren't a lot of women who are famous for their physical endurance. Lynne Cox is famous for swimming distances that most people are too lazy to walk. In Swimming to Antarctica she wrote about her record-setting long-distance swims of the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Cape of Good Hope, and last but not least, 32-degree Antarctic waters.

She's come out with a new book, Grayson, about an experience she had at the age of seventeen. While training, she encountered a baby whale who followed her and lost its mother. Grayson is the story of that day and how the lessons she learned became part of the underpinnings of her success. Cox was at the University Bookstore last night promoting it. She is a magnetic and animated speaker, with big bangs hanging into her eyes and an infectious smile. The audience was further pleased by compliments on the water quality of Puget Sound. Seattlest had to scamper before the booksigning began, but we imagine she sold a lot of books.