What’s New?
- Biographies: Jamaica Kincaid, Marilyn Nelson, Clifford Ashley, Sylvia Earle, and Phillis Wheatley
- Audio: Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Pearl of Orr’s Island
- Video: Derek Walcott reads "Sea Grapes"
- Featured Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Tag Archives: 20th Century
Murphy, Robert Cushman
by R. D. Madison (2000) MURPHY, ROBERT CUSHMAN (1887-1973). Born in Brooklyn, Robert Cushman Murphy graduated from Brown University in 1911. The following year he married Grace E. Barstow and embarked on the whaler Daisy for the South Atlantic. A naturalist Continue reading text links
Posted in M
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Maritime History, Nonfiction, Pacific Ocean, Science/Nature, Whaling/Sealing
Comments Off on Murphy, Robert Cushman
Mowat, Farley
by Boyd Childress (2000) MOWAT, FARLEY [MCGILL] (1921-2014). Farley Mowat is one of Canada’s more popular and controversial writers. Born 12 May 1921, in Belleview, Ontario, Mowat graduated from the University of Toronto in 1949. He spent two years during Continue reading text links
Posted in M
Tagged 20th Century, Arctic, Children's Writing, Fiction, Maritime History, Nonfiction, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea, Whaling/Sealing
Comments Off on Mowat, Farley
Pyle, Howard
by Peter H. McCracken (2000) PYLE, [JOHN] HOWARD (1853-1911). Howard Pyle was one of America’s foremost artists of children’s books, and he exerted a dramatic influence on generations of book illustrators. Pyle was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Until attending art school, Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Children's Writing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Piracy
Comments Off on Pyle, Howard
Poyer, David
by Joseph Navratil (2000) POYER, DAVID [ANDREISSEN] (1949- ). David Poyer graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971 and is a naval reserve captain, experienced sailor, and underwater diver. Poyer adapted his active-duty navy experiences to write best-selling sagas of Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Gulf of Mexico, Navy/Coast Guard, War
Comments Off on Poyer, David
Pound, Ezra
by Robert E. Kibler (2000) POUND, EZRA [LOOMIS] (1885-1972). Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho. As an expatriate living in Europe, Pound’s experiments with translation and poetic form resulted in his vivid translation of the eighth-century Anglo-Saxon poem “The Seafarer” Continue reading text links
Porter, Katherine Anne
by Jeraldine R. Kraver (2000) PORTER, KATHERINE ANNE (1890-1980). Callie Russell Porter was born in Indian Creek, Texas, into a poor family and died in Silver Spring, Maryland, early assuming her paternal grandmother’s name. Living in Mexico, New York, Paris, Germany, Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Gulf of Mexico, Passenger Travel, Women Protagonists
Comments Off on Porter, Katherine Anne
Plath, Sylvia
by Claire J. Keyes (2000) PLATH, SYLVIA (1932-1963). Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, and her family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts, a seaside suburb, in 1936, where she lived until they moved inland to Wellesley in 1942. Her childhood by the Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Coastal Life, Gender/Sexuality and the Sea, Poetry, Recreation, Women Protagonists
Comments Off on Plath, Sylvia
Paretsky, Sara
by Mary DeJong Obuchowski (2000) PARETSKY, SARA (1947- ). V. I. Warshawski, the protagonist in all of Sara Paretsky’s mysteries to date, is a private investigator in Chicago who pursues criminals. In some of her exploits, Warshawski traces them to Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Women Protagonists
Comments Off on Paretsky, Sara
Safina, Carl
by Rachel Earnhardt (2017) SAFINA, CARL (1955-). Carl Safina is a biologist, author, activist, and educator. Born on May 23, 1955, in Brooklyn, NY, Safina spent his childhood fishing, breeding pigeons, and playing music. In high school, he participated in Continue reading text links
Wouk, Herman
by Laurence W. Mazzeno (2000) WOUK, HERMAN (1915-2019). Herman Wouk, author of the best-selling sea novel The Caine Mutiny (1951) and other works about the navy in World War II, was born in New York City, eldest son of Russian Jewish Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean, Plays, War
Comments Off on Wouk, Herman
Wilson, Sloan
by Robert Shenk (2000) WILSON, SLOAN (1920-2003). Sloan Wilson was a Coast Guard officer before he became a novelist and a yachtsman before he gained a commission in the Coast Guard. He came to regard his Coast Guard experience as Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, First-person narrative, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea
Comments Off on Wilson, Sloan
Wilson, Gilbert
by Elizabeth Schultz (2000) WILSON, GILBERT [BROWN] (1907-1991). Having studied in the 1930s to be a muralist, from the 1940s through the 1960s Gilbert Wilson worked in diverse media to interpret Moby-Dick (1851) visually, with the intention of bringing Herman Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
Comments Off on Wilson, Gilbert
Wilson, August
by Sarah Dohan (2016) WILSON, AUGUST (1945-2005). August Wilson, a prominent American playwright, was born Frederick August Kittel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 27, 1945 to Frederick Kittel, a German baker, and Daisy Wilson Kittel, an African American cleaning woman. Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, audio, Middle Passage and Enslavement, Plays, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea, video
Leave a comment
Williams, William Carlos
by Robert E. Kibler (2000) WILLIAMS, WILLIAM CARLOS (1883-1963). Although modern poet, novelist, and essayist William Carlos Williams once said that all of his art came out of the work-yard of his lifelong home in Rutherford, New Jersey, where he Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Passenger Travel, Poetry, Science/Nature
Comments Off on Williams, William Carlos
Williams, Tennessee
by Felicia Hardison Londre (2000) WILLIAMS, TENNESSEE [THOMAS LANIER] (1911-1983). Winner of four New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays, Tennessee Williams is most identified with the American South. He was born in Mississippi Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Gender/Sexuality and the Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Multimedia/Multimodal, Pacific Islands, Passenger Travel, Plays, Recreation
Comments Off on Williams, Tennessee
White, E. B.
by Hillary Frey and Mira Dock (2000) WHITE, E[LWYN]. B[ROOKS]. (1899-1983). Best known for his articles in The New Yorker and his children’s books, E. B. White reflected significantly upon his relationship with the sea in two important essays, “The Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, First-person narrative, Fishing, Pacific Ocean, Passenger Travel, Recreation
Comments Off on White, E. B.
Warner, William W.
by Brian Anderson (2000) WARNER, WILLIAM W[HITESIDES]. (1920-2008). Naturalist-author William W. Warner was born in New York City. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, and was awarded Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, First-person narrative, Fishing, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Science/Nature
Comments Off on Warner, William W.
Walcott, Derek
by Jill B. Gidmark (2000) WALCOTT, DEREK [ALTON] (1930-2017). Winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in literature, Derek Walcott identifies in his life and work two primary inspirations: the Caribbean Sea and his mixed-race heritage. Born and raised in the harbor Continue reading text links
Posted in W
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Fishing, Plays, Poetry, Race/Ethnicity and the Sea, Science/Nature, video, Whaling/Sealing
Comments Off on Walcott, Derek
Vukelich, George
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) VUKELICH, GEORGE (1927-1995). “[I]t was good to be on the Great Lakes,” wrote George Vukelich in 1955 to the editor of the Milwaukee Journal, after a spell as an ore boat deckhand. This sentiment pervades Continue reading text links
Posted in V
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Fishing, Great Lakes, Journalism, Merchant Marine, Multimedia/Multimodal, Poetry, Science/Nature, Short Story
Comments Off on Vukelich, George
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.
by Christopher Lee (2000) VONNEGUT, KURT, JR (1922-2007). Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis but soon moved east, eventually settling in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 1951, where he lived for twenty years. His essay “Brief Encounters on the Inland Waterway” Continue reading text links
Posted in V
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Fiction, Island Life, Multimedia/Multimodal, Recreation
Comments Off on Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.
Vollmann, William T.
by Dana L. Peterson (2000) VOLLMANN, WILLIAM T[ANNER]. (1959- ). William T. Vollmann’s very ambitious project is a seven-novel series entitled Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes, which interweaves history, myth and legend, imagination, illustrations, and personal travel Continue reading text links
Posted in V
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Great Lakes, Nonfiction, Science/Nature, Short Story
Comments Off on Vollmann, William T.
Vidal, Gore
by Donald Yannella (2000) VIDAL, GORE [EUGENE LUTHER] (1925-2012). Gore Vidal was born in West Point, New York, attended Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and served in the army during World War II. A novelist, playwright, and essayist, he Continue reading text links
Posted in V
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Nonfiction, Pacific Ocean, Plays
Comments Off on Vidal, Gore
Urquhart, Jane
by Jill B. Gidmark (2000) URQUHART, JANE (1949- ). Jane Urquhart was born near Lake Nipigon, Ontario, north of Lake Superior, where she spent the first five years of her life. Vivid memories of extended time on the north shore of Continue reading text links
Posted in U
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Great Lakes
Comments Off on Urquhart, Jane
Updike, John
by Thomas R. Brooks (2000) UPDIKE, JOHN [HOYER] (1932-2009). John Updike is the author of over fifteen novels and an impressive body of shorter fiction, poetry, and criticism, much of which has been published in The New Yorker. Born in Pennsylvania, Continue reading text links
Posted in U
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story
Comments Off on Updike, John
Theroux, Paul
by Boyd Childress (2000) THEROUX, PAUL [EDWARD] (1941- ). Paul Theroux was born in Medford, Massachusetts, and received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in 1963. Having taught in Malawi, Uganda, and Singapore, he is a prolific novelist and travel Continue reading text links
Posted in T
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction, Pacific Islands, Short Story
Comments Off on Theroux, Paul
Stone, Robert
by Dennis Berthold (2000) STONE, ROBERT [ANTHONY] (1937-2015). A distinguished, award-winning novelist, Robert Stone turned to nautical fiction in his fifth book, Outerbridge Reach (1992). Born in New York to a family of tugboaters, he served from 1955 to 1958 as Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Gulf of Mexico, Merchant Marine, Recreation
Comments Off on Stone, Robert
Stevens, Wallace
by Nancy Prothro Arbuthnot (2000) STEVENS, WALLACE (1879-1955). Wallace Stevens is one of the most influential American poets of the twentieth century, whose central concern is with the relationship of the human imagination and the world of physical reality. Stevens Continue reading text links
Steinbeck, John
by Susan F. Beegel (2000) STEINBECK, JOHN [ERNST] (1902-1968). John Steinbeck, winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in literature, was born in Salinas, California. As a child, he divided his time between his family’s home in the rich agricultural land of Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 20th Century, Class/Labor and the Sea, Fiction, Nonfiction, Pacific Ocean, Science/Nature, Short Story, Whaling/Sealing
Comments Off on Steinbeck, John
Sobel, Dava
by Marija Miklavčič (2020) SOBEL, DAVA (1947 – ). Dava Sobel grew up in the Bronx, NY, and received her college degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. A journalist and science writer, Sobel has written Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, Atlantic Ocean, Merchant Marine, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Science/Nature, video
Leave a comment
Snyder, Gary
by Anthony Hunt (2000) SNYDER, GARY [SHERMAN] (1930- ). Born in San Francisco, Gary Snyder grew up among the forests, mountains, and shores of the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of Reed College (1951), Snyder first went to sea during the summer Continue reading text links
Snow, Edward Rowe
by Mary Malloy (2000) SNOW, EDWARD ROWE (1902-1982). A prolific producer of maritime history and lore for popular consumption, Edward Rowe Snow was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in history from Continue reading text links
Smith, Edgar Newbold
by Brian Sateriale (2000) SMITH, EDGAR NEWBOLD (1926-2013). A descendant of a maritime family, Edgar Newbold Smith graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1948. Best known as a collector of naval prints, Smith compiled American Naval Broadsides: A Collection of Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 20th Century, Arctic, First-person narrative
Comments Off on Smith, Edgar Newbold
Slocum, Joshua
by Haskell Springer (2000; rev. 2021) SLOCUM, JOSHUA (1844-1909). Joshua Slocum, the first singlehanded circumnavigator and author of the classic Sailing Alone Around the World (1900), was born in Nova Scotia. At about sixteen he left home to work as a Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, audio, First-person narrative, Fishing, Merchant Marine, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean, Recreation, video
Comments Off on Slocum, Joshua
Siegel, Robert Harold
by Mira Dock (2000) SIEGEL, ROBERT HAROLD (1939-2012). Growing up in the Midwest, Robert Harold Siegel also spent time on Long Island’s Jones Beach, cruised the Caribbean, and sailed and whale-watched off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and California. His Continue reading text links
Searls, Hank
by C. Herbert Gilliland (2000) SEARLS, HENRY HUNT “HANK,” JR. (1922-2017). Novelist and author of nonfiction and short fiction, Hank Searls was born in San Francisco 10 August 1922. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944 with the wartime-accelerated Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Short Story
Comments Off on Searls, Hank
Santayana, George
by Bernard F. Engel (2000) SANTAYANA, GEORGE [JORGE AUGUSTIN NICOLAS RUIZ DE] (1863-1962). The Spanish-born American idealist-philosopher George Santayana drew on his frequent Atlantic crossings in forming concepts of the world and himself. He also used shipboard experience when developing abstract Continue reading text links
Sandburg, Carl
by Philip A. Greasley (2000) SANDBURG, CARL [AUGUST] (1878-1967). Carl Sandburg, poet, historian, journalist, novelist, labor organizer, folksinger, and collector of American dialect, was born to Swedish immigrant parents in Galesburg, Illinois. Sandburg early understood the beauty, power, and destructiveness of Continue reading text links
Rudloe, Jack
by Dennis Berthold (2000) RUDLOE, JACK [J.] (1943- ). Born in New York, Jack Rudloe moved to Florida as a boy and began his self-education as a marine biologist. In 1964 he founded the Gulf Coast Specimen Company of Panacea, Florida, Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, First-person narrative, Fishing, Gulf of Mexico, Journalism, Nonfiction, Science/Nature
Comments Off on Rudloe, Jack
Robertson, Morgan
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) ROBERTSON, MORGAN (1861-1915). Son of a Great Lakes captain, Morgan Robertson was born in Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario. He wrote popular sea fiction with the authoritative voice of an expert seaman. Sailing from 1877 Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes
Comments Off on Robertson, Morgan
Roberts, Kenneth
by Lawrence I. Berkove (2000) ROBERTS, KENNETH [LEWIS] (1885-1957). Chronicling the lives of Maine coastal families in most of his distinguished historical novels of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Kenneth Roberts acquired and put to use an impressive and detailed Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard
Comments Off on Roberts, Kenneth
Roark, Garland (“George Garland”)
by Joseph Flibbert (2000) [ROARK, GARLAND], “GEORGE GARLAND” (1904-1985). Born in Groesbeck, Texas, Garland Roark spent the first two decades of his work life on the advertising staffs of various retail stores in Texas, promoting everything from groceries to jewelry. In Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal
Comments Off on Roark, Garland (“George Garland”)
Riesenberg, Felix
by Bert Bender (2000) RIESENBERG, FELIX (1879-1939). Felix Riesenberg was one of the most important figures in American literature of the sea during the 1920s and 1930s; his literary contributions were preceded by many years of first-hand sea experience during the Continue reading text links
Ricketts, Edward F.
by Susan F. Beegel (2000) RICKETTS, EDWARD F[LANDERS]. (1897-1948). Edward F. Ricketts, marine biologist and ecologist, was John Steinbeck’s collaborator on Sea of Cortez (1941) and the model for “Doc,” protagonist of Steinbeck’s Monterey novels Cannery Row (1945) and Sweet Continue reading text links
Richard, Mark
by Hugh Egan (2000) RICHARD, MARK (1955- ). Author of the sea novel Fishboy (1993), Mark Richard (pronounced ree-SHARD) has been, at different times in his life, disc jockey, newspaperman, photographer, and private investigator. As a young man, Richard took time Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 20th Century, Coastal Life, Fiction, Fishing, Short Story
Comments Off on Richard, Mark
Rich, Adrienne
by Claire J. Keyes (2000) RICH, ADRIENNE [CECILE] (1929-2012). The author of twenty books of poems and four prose works, Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore. “Diving into the Wreck” (1972), a poem frequently anthologized, contains her fullest, most dramatic reference Continue reading text links
Rice, Elmer
by Brian T. Carney (2000) RICE, ELMER (1892-1967). Born Elmer Reizenstein, the playwright Elmer Rice is best known for his realistic and expressionistic dramas of urban life. However, he turned to the sea for two of his plays. Between Two Worlds Continue reading text links
Ratigan, William O.
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) RATIGAN, WILLIAM 0. (1910-1984). Born to a Great Lakes steamboat engineer in Detroit and later adopted by an Ottawa tribe chief, William Ratigan called Michigan his home. This Great Lakes historian’s writings celebrate ordinary Americans Continue reading text links
Posted in R
Tagged 20th Century, Great Lakes, Nonfiction, Poetry
Comments Off on Ratigan, William O.
Olson, Toby
by Peter H. McCracken (2000) OLSON, [MERLE THEODORE] TOBY (1937- ). Poet and novelist Toby Olson was born in Berwyn, Illinois, but spent much of his childhood moving around the United States. This constant movement instilled a theme of travel into Continue reading text links
Posted in O
Tagged 20th Century, 21st Century, Coastal Life, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean
Comments Off on Olson, Toby
Olson, Charles
by Ralph Maud (2000) OLSON, CHARLES [JOHN] (1910-1970). The poet Charles Olson was born and raised in the inland city of Worcester, Massachusetts, but the family always spent summers in the fishing port of Gloucester; widowed in 1935, his mother provided Continue reading text links
Oliver, Mary
by Ted Olson (2000, rev. ed. 2019) OLIVER, MARY (1935-2019). A popular and highly acclaimed American poet, recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Mary Oliver composed numerous lyric poems set on coastal Cape Cod. Born in Continue reading text links
Posted in O
Tagged 20th Century, audio, Coastal Life, Poetry, Science/Nature, video
Comments Off on Oliver, Mary