Category Archives: H

de Hartog, Jan

by James F. Millinger (2000) DE HARTOG, JAN (1914-2002). Born in Holland, Jan de Hartog ran off to sea when he was ten years old. Six years later he enrolled in Amsterdam Naval College and became a junior mate in Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on de Hartog, Jan

Hains, Thornton Jenkins (“Captain Mayn Clew Garnett”)

by Bert Bender (2000) [HAINS, THORNTON JENKINS], “CAPTAIN MAYN CLEW GARNETT” (1866-1953). Named for his maternal grandfather, Admiral Thornton Jenkins, U.S.N., Thornton Jenkins Hains had a career of indefinite length as a working seaman and was licensed in both England Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hains, Thornton Jenkins (“Captain Mayn Clew Garnett”)

Hale, Edward Everett

by Norman E. Stafford HALE, EDWARD EVERETT (1822-1909). Born in Boston, Edward Everett Hale belonged to an old New England family. His great-uncle, Captain Nathan Hale, uttered the memorable cry, “I only regret that I have but one life to Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Hale, Edward Everett

Haley, Alex

by Robert Shenk HALEY, ALEX (1921-1992). Alex Haley joined the Coast Guard as a “mess boy” at seventeen after two years of college. During World War II, aboard the cargo ship U.S.S. Murzim, he sent story after story to national Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Haley, Alex

Hall, James Norman

See Nordhoff, Charles and James Norman Hall Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Comments Off on Hall, James Norman

Hall, Lawrence Sargent

by Joseph Flibbert HALL, LAWRENCE SARGENT (1915-1993). Lawrence Sargent Hall was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Following completion of his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1941, he served for four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, including three years Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hall, Lawrence Sargent

Hallet, Richard Matthews

by Bert Bender HALLET, RICHARD MATTHEWS (1887-1967). In 1912, at age twenty-five and with both a B.A. and LL.B. from Harvard University, Richard Matthews Hallet abandoned the practice of law in search of adventure and a career as a sea-writer. Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hallet, Richard Matthews

Halyard, Harry

by Joseph Flibbert “HALYARD, HARRY” (dates unknown). “Harry Halyard” is the pseudonym of the unknown author of twelve novels published in the mid-nineteenth century. Five of them were intended to exploit public interest in the Mexican War: The Chieftain of Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Halyard, Harry

Harlow, Frederick Pease

by Glenn Grasso HARLOW, FREDERICK PEASE (1856-1952). Frederick Pease Harlow was born in Mount Morris, Illinois, on 12 December 1856. He was the youngest son of Frances Ann Winsor and William T. Harlow, an educator and Methodist minister originally from Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Harlow, Frederick Pease

Harper, Michael S.

by Fred M. Fetrow HARPER, MICHAEL S[TEVEN]. (1938-2016). Few of Michael S. Harper’s challenging poems draw upon the sea for either setting or theme, but when his strong interest in history intersected with even stronger feelings about racial justice, he Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , | Comments Off on Harper, Michael S.

Hart, Joseph C.

by Nathaniel Philbrick HART, JOSEPH C. (1798-1855). A New Yorker whose mother’s family came from Nantucket Island, Joseph C. Hart is known today as the author of Miriam Coffin, or The Whale-Fishermen (1834), a novel that was an important source Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hart, Joseph C.

Harte, Bret

by Nathaniel T. Mott HARTE, [FRANCIS] BRET[T] (1836-1902). Born in Albany, New York, Bret Harte rose to literary prominence as editor of the Overland Monthly (first pub. 1868), a San Francisco-based magazine of western lore. In this forum Harte produced Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Harte, Bret

Havighurst, Walter

by Peter H. McCracken (2000) HAVIGHURST, WALTER [EDWIN] (1901-1994). Walter Havighurst is known primarily as a historian of the Midwest, but he also wrote fiction, much of it influenced by his experiences at sea in the 1920s. Havighurst worked as Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Havighurst, Walter

Hawes, Charles Boardman

The Great Quest (1921) Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Comments Off on Hawes, Charles Boardman

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

by Joseph Flibbert (2000) HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL (1804-1864). Born in Salem, Massachusetts, when the town was still one of the most active seaports in America, Nathaniel Hawthorne spent most of his youth within sight of the town’s busy wharves. His grandfather, Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Hayden, Robert

by Fred M. Fetrow (2000) HAYDEN, ROBERT [EARL] (1913-1980). A long-neglected African American poet, Robert Hayden (born Asa Bundy Sheffey) climaxed his career with two successive terms as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress (1976-1978), the position now Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hayden, Robert

Hayden, Sterling

by James F. Millinger (2000) HAYDEN, STERLING [RELYEA WALTER] (1916-1986). Born in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, Sterling Hayden quit school at sixteen to join the crew of a sailing ship. He served as seaman aboard fishing vessels and sailing ships Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hayden, Sterling

Hazel, Harry (Justin Jones)

See Jones, Justin Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Comments Off on Hazel, Harry (Justin Jones)

Hearn, Lafcadio

  by Christopher Lee (2000) HEARN, [PATRICIO] LAFCADIO [TESSIMA CARLOS] (1850-1904). Lafcadio Hearn was born in Greece and migrated to the United States, where he drifted from New York, to Cincinnati, to New Orleans. In New Orleans he wrote Chita: Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Hearn, Lafcadio

Heat-Moon, Williams Least

Interested in contributing Williams Least Heat-Moon’s biography? Click here for more information.

Posted in H | Leave a comment

Hemingway, Ernest Miller

by Bickford Sylvester (2000) HEMINGWAY, ERNEST MILLER (1899-1961). Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (1952) and the Nobel Prize in literature (1954), grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. Except when rough water forced them to go by Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hemingway, Ernest Miller

Henson, Matthew

by Emma Bonanomi (2021) MATTHEW ALEXANDER HENSON (1866-1955) was a Black American explorer who came to fame after United States Navy Commander Robert E. Peary’s 1908-1909 expedition to the North Pole. He may have been one of the first men Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Herbert, Frank

Interested in contributing Frank Herbert’s biography? Click here for more information.

Posted in H | Leave a comment

Herbert, Henry William (“Frank Forester”)

by R. D. Madison (2000) [HERBERT, HENRY WILLIAM], “FRANK FORESTER” (1807-1858). Born in England and arriving in America in 1831, Henry William Herbert initiated a career as a writer of romances: his best-known fiction, Ringwood the Rover, was serialized in Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Herbert, Henry William (“Frank Forester”)

Herne, James A.

by Attilio Favorini (2000) HERNE, JAMES A[HERN]. (1839-1901). James A. Herne was an actor, manager, and playwright whose early reputation as a successful melodramatist was established on the basis of his collaborations with playwright/producer/director David Belasco. Later in his career, however, Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Herne, James A.

Hersey, John

by James F. Millinger and Jill B. Gidmark (2000) HERSEY, JOHN [RICHARD] (1914-1993). The prolific author John Hersey was born in China and moved to the United States in 1925, when his family decided to return. He was educated at Yale Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hersey, John

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth

by Jane Donahue Eberwein (2000) HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH (1823-1911). This Harvard graduate and versatile man of letters felt at home in water from his early childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While ministering to the Unitarian church at Newburyport, Massachusetts, he then Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Higginson, Thomas Wentworth

Hine, Ephraim Curtiss

by Thomas Farel Heffernan (2000) HINE, EPHRAIM CURTISS (1818?-1853). Sailor and author raised in Genoa, New York, Ephraim Curtiss Hine is best known today as the model for the nautical poet Lemsford in Herman Melville’s novel White-Jacket (1850). Melville, who was Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hine, Ephraim Curtiss

Holmes, Oliver Wendell

by Stephen Curley (2000) HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL (1809-1894). Oliver Wendell Holmes, a writer and distinguished academic physician, spent his life around Boston. He was the social leader of a group of intellectual luminaries that included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , | Comments Off on Holmes, Oliver Wendell

Hough, Henry Beetle

by Wesley T. Mott (2000) HOUGH, HENRY BEETLE (1896-1985). Editor of the Vineyard Gazette on the island of Martha’s Vineyard from 1920 almost until his death, Henry Beetle Hough was the grandson of a sea captain. He was born and raised Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hough, Henry Beetle

Houston, James

by Boyd Childress (2000) HOUSTON, JAMES [ARCHIBALD] (1921-2005). James Houston has made his mark in writing, art, film illustration, film and documentary production, and design. Winner of numerous awards, Houston has written several children’s books and novels on the Arctic, Arctic Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Houston, James

Howe, Tina

by David R. Pellegrini (2000) HOWE, TINA (1937- ). Obie-award-winning playwright Tina Howe often employs sea imagery as metaphoric devices in her plays. Born in Boston and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, Howe began to have her works professionally produced in Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Howe, Tina

Howells, William Dean

by Udo Nattermann (2000) HOWELLS, WILLIAM DEAN (1837-1920). A native of Ohio, William Dean Howells began to work in his father’s printing shop at age nine. A self-taught student of languages and literature, he early entered a career in journalism. After Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Howells, William Dean

Hughes, Langston

by Christopher C. De Santis (2000) HUGHES, [JAMES MERCER] LANGSTON (1902-1967). Langston Hughes, the prolific African American writer whose work in multiple genres endeared him early in his career to the black American community and later to a broad, international readership, Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hughes, Langston

Hurlbut, Frances B.

by Donald P. Curtis (2000) HURLBUT, FRANCES [BRINDEL] (1842?-1892). Orphaned by age nine, Frances Hurlbut, nee Brindel, left Pennsylvania for Newport (now Marine City), Michigan, to live with her aunt, Emily Ward. Hurlbut’s only publication, Grandmother’s Stories (1889), recounts Aunt Emily’s Continue reading & text links

Posted in H | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hurlbut, Frances B.