A news reporter once asked Mr. Atkisson about the fear factor during some of his more harrowing moments at sea. He said that, as a recovering alcoholic, "I am at pains . . . to, as we say it, 'stay in the now' -- i.e., don't dwell on the past or obsess on the future. . . . Nothing keeps one in the moment like single-handing a small boat across a big ocean. Hard to explain, but when you are that deeply set into the moment, you just cannot fear the future."


John Atkisson; After law career, he sailed across Atlantic