River Huston was born in Levittown, Pennsylvania in 1960. She ended her high school career at 15 to attend Bucks County Community College where she received an associates degree and a high school diploma. This is where she discovered that art was in her blood. She went on to experience many life adventures including care taking an island in the south atlantic, growing pot in northern California and playing musics in the cafés and streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Many more adventures ensued which are the basis for her one woman show, Sex, Cellulite and Large Farm Equipment; One Girls Guide to Living and Dying.
In 1985 after living NYC for 6 years (most of that time either homeless or living in a van), she had an awakening and changed her life. She returned to school and earned a BA in music and health at Hunter College. In her last year of college she was diagnosed HIV- positive and in 1991 she was diagnosed with a critical bleeding disorder that had no cure.
She left NYC to live with her father in Pennsylvania. She immersed herself in information about both illnesses and kept death at bay through alternative medicine and some experimental drug therapy.
She eventually moved into an apartment in New Hope, PA where she discovered poetry and went on to be named poet laureate of her county as well as the local slam queen. From there she realized her mission in life was to be of service and started speaking at prisons, high schools, halfway houses and rehabs to people about safe sex and HIV. This evolved into a full time career where she expanded her topics to include sexuality, self-esteem, alcohol abuse, overcoming challenges and making better choices.
In 1995 she was honored with a Doctorate of Humanities from Albright College for her work in the community. She started The Women's Wellness Fund to educate women with critical illnesses about alternative therapies and how to get them funded.
In 1996 She was awarded the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor award for A Positive Life: Portraits Of Women Living With HIV. She went on to write three books of poetry and Goddess: A New Guide to Feminine Wisdom. River was a columnist for POZ magazine for over 14 years and currently blogs for thebody.org.
In 2009 she was the recipient of the Leeway Transformation Award in recognition of her work over the past two decades.
In the last two years she has revisited her passion for painting and has several gallery exhibits in the works.
She has performed for the last 20 years to hundreds of thousands of people at colleges, universities, conferences, benefits and almost every organization you can imagine from the IRS to The International River Keepers. She has appeared on numerous national television and radio shows including CNN, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, Showtime, CBS; Up to The Minute and The Montel Williams Show, WPST, WMMR, NPR, All Things Considered for her work.
River currently lives along the Delaware River in a small town in Pennsylvania with her amazing husband, several dogs and a flock of very friendly chickens.