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: Fiction
Gardner, John
by William Crisman (2000) GARDNER, JOHN [CHAMPLIN] (1933-1982). The son of a dairy farmer, John Gardner had no important personal connection with the sea. Indeed, his maritime novella, The King’s Indian (1972, in a volume of the same name), a Continue reading text links
Gann, Ernest K.
by James F. Millinger (2000) GANN, ERNEST K[ELLOGG]. (1910-1991). Known primarily for his books in the field of aviation literature, Ernest K. Gann wrote about seafaring in Twilight for the Gods (1956) and Song of the Sirens (1968). Twilight for Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean
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Galloway, Les
by Haskell Springer (2000) GALLOWAY, LES [EDWARD WILLIAM] (1919-1990). A commercial fisherman for most of his life, Les Galloway also wrote fiction, publishing short sea stories in several periodicals. Of Great Spaces (1987), shared with Jerome Gold, collects and reprints Continue reading text links
Fuller, Iola
by Mary DeJong Obuchowski (2000) FULLER [MCCOY], IOLA (1906-1993). Born in Marcellus, Michigan, Iola Fuller worked both as a librarian and a teacher at Ferris State College before engaging in writing full-time. She won an Avery Hopwood award at the Continue reading text links
Freneau, Philip
by Ted Olson (2000) FRENEAU, PHILIP [MORIN] (1752-1832). An “occasional” poet born in New York City, Philip Freneau during his long life wrote lyric and narrative poems on a wide range of subjects. Since he spent many years working on Continue reading text links
Posted in F
Tagged 18th Century, 19th Century, Caribbean, Fiction, Merchant Marine, Middle Passage and Enslavement, Poetry, War
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Fitzgerald, F. Scott
by Donald Yannella (2000) FITZGERALD, F[RANCIS]. SCOTT (1896-1940). Although not an author of sea fiction, F. Scott Fitzgerald used water as a setting and employed water imagery and related symbolism in his most important work, The Great Gatsby (1925), and Continue reading text links
Faulkner, William
by Doreen Fowler (2000) FAULKNER, WILLIAM [CUTHBERT] (1897-1962). William Faulkner, who lived and wrote in the hills of north Mississippi, often visited the Gulf coast. From April to June 1925, he resided in New Orleans, frequently sailing on yachts and Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, cruise ships, Fiction, Recreation (beaches, small boat sailing, War
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Ellis, Edward Sylvester
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) ELLIS, EDWARD SYLVESTER (1840-1916). A prolific, versatile author, Edward Sylvester Ellis was born in Geneva, Ohio, near Lake Erie. While young, he moved to New Jersey, only later to return to the Great Lakes in Continue reading text links
Posted in E
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Nonfiction
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Dunbar, Paul Laurence
by Fred M. Fetrow (2000) DUNBAR, PAUL LAURENCE (1872-1906). Best known for the dialect poetry suggested by the titles of his four published volumes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, the son of former slaves, also wrote a number of short stories and Continue reading text links
Doolittle, Hilda
by Gregg Allen Walker (2000) D[OOLITTLE]., H[ILDA]. (1886-1961). H. D., a poet, novelist, dramatist, and translator whose works often incorporate sea imagery, was born in Pennsylvania. Childhood visits to the seacoasts of Rhode Island and Maine first inspired H. D., Continue reading text links
Desrosiers, Leo-Paul
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) DESROSIERS, LEO-PAUL (1896-1967). Leo-Paul Desrosiers was born in Berthier-en-Haut, Quebec, a village on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River northeast of Montreal. His happy childhood provided him with material for his first work, Ames Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, French, Great Lakes, Maritime History
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Davis, Rebecca Harding
by Daniel W. Lane (2000) DAVIS, REBECCA HARDING (1830-1910). Although best known for her gritty depiction of factory life in her story “Life in the Iron-Mills” (1861), Rebecca Harding Davis frequently used vivid sea imagery in her writings. Intimately familiar Continue reading text links
Cussler, Clive
by R. D. Madison (2000) CUSSLER, CLIVE [ERIC] (1931-2020). As a boy Clive Cussler immersed himself in the literature of the American Civil War and the writings of C. S. Forester. Describing himself as “the kid that stared out the Continue reading text links
Curwood, James Oliver
by Ed Demerly (2000) CURWOOD, JAMES OLIVER (1878-1927). James Oliver Curwood, born in Owosso, Michigan, was a popular writer of nonfiction, romance and adventure fiction, and scripts for silent films. Although much of his fiction is set in the Canadian Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Journalism, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction
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Creeley, Robert
by Donald Yannella (2000) CREELEY, ROBERT [WHITE] (1926-2005). Robert Creeley’s most sustained and important piece of sea writing is his 1963 novel The Island. Although his work only infrequently focuses on the sea or even uses it as background, the center section Continue reading text links
Crane, Stephen
by Matthew Evertson (2000) CRANE, STEPHEN (1871-1900). Stephen Crane’s first extended trip at sea ended in a shipwreck less than thirty-five hours after he left the Florida coast, forcing Crane and three other crew members to struggle toward land for Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Coastal Life, Fiction, First-person narrative, Journalism, Poetry
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Cozzens, James Gould
by Douglas Robillard (2000) COZZENS, JAMES GOULD (1903-1979). Born in Chicago, James Gould Cozzens lived for a time on Staten Island. Educated at the Kent School and at Harvard, he left college after completing a first work, Confusion: a Novel (1924). Continue reading text links
Cooper, James Fenimore
by Thomas Philbrick (2000) COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE (1789-1851). With The Pilot (1824) James Fenimore Cooper invented the sea novel, for the first time employing the dominant literary form of the nineteenth century as the vehicle for a fiction in which the Continue reading text links
Posted in C
Tagged 18th Century, 19th Century, Coastal Life, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Whaling/Sealing
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Coomer, Joe
by Jeffrey Cass (2000) COOMER, JOE (1958- ). A transplanted Texan, Joe Coomer married into a boating family and has spent a great deal of time off the Maine coast becoming adept at sailing. In 1992 Coomer purchased a wooden Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Coastal Life, cruise ships, Fiction, First-person narrative, Recreation (beaches, small boat sailing
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Connell, Evan S., Jr.
by Jeffrey Cass (2000) CONNELL, EVAN S[HELBY]., JR (1924-2013). Born in Kansas City and educated at Dartmouth, Columbia, and Stanford, Evan S. Connell Jr. remains best known for his novels Mrs. Bridge (1959) and Mr. Bridge (1969). Connell wrote the screenplay of the 1990 Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Poetry, War
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Colcord, Lincoln Ross
by Parker Bishop Albee Jr. (2000) COLCORD, LINCOLN ROSS (1883-1947). Lincoln Ross Colcord, author of sea fiction and maritime historian, was born at sea aboard the bark Charlotte A. Littlefield, commanded by his father, Lincoln Alden Colcord of Searsport, Maine. Colcord Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Journalism, Maritime History, Nonfiction, Poetry
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Clancy, Tom
by Donald Yannella (2000) CLANCY, TOM (1947-2013). The Hunt for Red October (1984) was Tom Clancy’s first published novel, catapulting him to celebrity. Fast-paced action, subtle character development, and accurate and abundant technical information make this a suspenseful and convincing story, one Continue reading text links
Chopin, Kate
by Elizabeth Schultz (2000)CHOPIN, KATE [O’FLAHERTY] (1850-1904). Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Kate Chopin had no experience of the sea until her three-month European honeymoon in 1870. On her return to the United States, she moved with her husband to Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, audio, Coastal Life, Fiction, Gender/Sexuality and the Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Recreation, Women Protagonists
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Cheever, John
by Robert Imes (2000) CHEEVER, JOHN (1912-1982). John Cheever, a writer of predominantly short fiction, uses seaside cottages and beaches as backgrounds for many of his stories. Sometimes Cheever’s depiction of the sea is more significant, however, with references to Continue reading text links
Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
by Kenneth A. Robb (2000) CATHERWOOD, MARY HARTWELL (1847-1902). Mary Hartwell Catherwood began her career with realistic stories of the midwest frontier but focused on stories of the French in early America after her novel The Romance of Dollard (1888). This interest Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Maritime History, Nonfiction
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Carse, Robert
by Donald P. Curtis (2000) CARSE, ROBERT (1902-1971). A Great Lakes sailor at seventeen, Robert Carse later worked salt water, attaining the position of chief mate. He sailed most of the world and developed a reputation as an expert seaman Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Children's Writing, Exploration, Fiction, Great Lakes, Maritime History, Short Story
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Carlisle, Henry Coffin
by Dennis Berthold (2000) CARLISLE, HENRY COFFIN (1926-2011). Born in San Francisco, Henry Coffin Carlisle served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946, earned a B.A. and M.A. at Stanford University in 1950 and 1953, and entered the Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Journalism, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Whaling/Sealing
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Cadwell, Clara Gertrude
by Robert Beasecker (2000) CADWELL, CLARA [GERTRUDE] (c.1856-l???). Other than the two facts that Clara Cadwell was born in Jefferson, Ohio, and later lived in Cleveland, almost nothing is known of her life. Her single published literary work, a novel Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Passenger Travel
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Burland, Brian
by Richard J. King BURLAND, BRIAN [BERKELEY] (1931-2010). Born in Bermuda, educated in England and Canada, and living a good part of his life in the United States, Brian Burland has written several maritime novels. Son of a yacht builder, Continue reading text links
Brooks, Kenneth F., Jr.
by Mira Dock (2000) BROOKS, KENNETH F., JR (1921-1962). Kenneth F. Brooks Jr., a decorated World War II pilot living near Washington, D.C., spent his childhood summers on his uncle’s sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay and continues to sail. In Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction
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Brinkley, William Clark
by James F. Millinger (2000) BRINKLEY, WILLIAM CLARK (1917-1993). Two of William Clark Brinkley’s books, Don’t Go Near the Water (1956) and The Ninety and Nine (1966), are based on his four years of experience in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Don’t Continue reading text links
Briggs, Charles Frederick
by Gail H. Coffler (2000) BRIGGS, CHARLES FREDERICK (1804-1877). Born a Nantucket Yankee (his mother was a Coffin), Charles Frederick Briggs was a real sailor before he became a professional writer. Though he would later turn to the magazines to Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Journalism, Recreation, Short Story
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Brady, Cyrus Townsend
by C. Herbert Gilliland (2000) BRADY, CYRUS [TOWNSEND] (1861-1920). Author of some seventy volumes of fiction and nonfiction, some having to do with seagoing or naval heroes, Cyrus Brady was born 20 December 1861 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Graduating from the Continue reading text links
Posted in B
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction
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Bradbury, Ray
by Jonathan R. Eller (2000) BRADBURY, RAY [DOUGLAS] (1920-2012). Ray Bradbury, prolific author of twenty story collections and eight novels evolving out of more than 340 published short stories, was born in Waukegan, Illinois. He has lived in Los Angeles Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction, Plays, Science Fiction, Short Story
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Bishop, John Peale
by Boyd Childress (2000) BISHOP, JOHN PEALE (1892-1944). A colleague and friend of such literary giants as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edmond Wilson, Ernest Hemingway, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Allen Tate, John Peale Bishop was a secondary figure in letters, Continue reading text links
Binns, Archie
by Matthew Evertson (2000) BINNS, ARCHIE [FRED] (1899-1971). Archie Binns, novelist and historian of the northwestern United States, is best known for his critically acclaimed novel Lightship (1934). Based partly on Binns’ own experiences at age eighteen aboard the Umatilla Reef Lightship off Cape Continue reading text links
Posted in B
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, Fiction, Indian Ocean, Journalism, Maritime History, Pacific Ocean
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Benchley, Peter
by Dennis Berthold (2000) BENCHLEY, PETER [BRADFORD] (1940-2006). Born in New York City, Peter Benchley earned a B.A. at Harvard in 1961 and took up a career in travel writing, journalism, and government. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Continue reading text links
Posted in B
Tagged 20th Century, Caribbean, Fiction, Island Life, Journalism, Science/Nature, video
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Beach, Edward Latimer Sr.
by C. Herbert Gilliland (2000) BEACH, EDWARD LATIMER, SR. (1867-1943). Edward Latimer Beach Sr., novelist, was born 30 June 1867 in Toledo, Ohio. Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1888, he took part in the Battle of Manila Bay Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction, Navy/Coast Guard, War
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Bates, Martha E. Cram
by Robert Beasecker (2000) BATES, MARTHA E. CRAM (1839-1905). Scant biographical detail exists concerning M.E.C. Bates. She was born in Northville, Michigan, and attended the State Normal School, now Eastern Michigan University. It appears that she taught school for at Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Journalism
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Barth, John
by Julius Rowan Raper (2000) BARTH, JOHN [SUMMONS] (1930- ). There is a great deal of water in the fiction of John Barth, as one would expect of a writer who was born in Cambridge on the eastern shore of Continue reading text links
Posted in B
Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, cruise ships, Fiction, Nonfiction, Recreation (beaches, Science/Nature, Short Story, small boat sailing
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Barnes, James
by Richard J. Williamson (2000) BARNES, JAMES (1866-1936). Author of books about naval history and naval wartime campaigns, as well as juvenile works on naval leaders, Colonel James Barnes was a prolific writer, historian, journalist, and naval officer. His depiction of Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction, First-person narrative, Journalism, Navy/Coast Guard, War
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Barker, Benjamin
by Dean DeFino (2000) BARKER, BENJAMIN (1817-18??). Beyond birth records in Salem, Massachusetts, the only documents that survive of Benjamin Barker are twenty short novels published under that name between 1845 and 1847 and one in 1855. Those with authors’ Continue reading text links
Posted in B
Tagged 19th Century, Exploration, Fiction, Piracy, Science Fiction, Short Story
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Baldwin, Bates (John Edward Jennings, Jr.)
Posted in B
Tagged 20th Century, Exploration, Fiction, Maritime History, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Short Story
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Averill, Charles
by Peter H. McCracken (2000) AVERILL, CHARLES (1825?-1868). Charles Averill wrote around a dozen adventure and romance novels between 1847 and 1850, about half of which take place wholly or mostly at sea. The Pirates of Cape Ann (1848) is representative. Here, Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Coastal Life, Fiction
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Ames, Nathaniel
by Hugh Egan (2000) AMES, NATHANIEL (1805-1835). Son of the Federalist statesman Fisher Ames and grandson of a famous colonial almanac publisher, Nathaniel Ames was a blueblood who went to sea and later wrote about it. In this way he Continue reading text links
Posted in A
Tagged 19th Century, Fiction, First-person narrative, Merchant Marine, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction
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Aldrich, Thomas Bailey
by Frank Rotsaert (2000) ALDRICH, THOMAS BAILEY (1836-1907). Thomas Bailey Aldrich, known chiefly as the author of The Story of a Bad Boy (1869), edited Every Saturday (1866-1874) and The Atlantic Monthly (1881-1890) and also wrote poems, short stories, and five novels. Born in Portsmouth, New Continue reading text links
Posted in A
Tagged 19th Century, Coastal Life, Fiction, First-person narrative, Poetry, Short Story
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Aiken, Conrad
by John T. Shawcross (2000) [AIKEN, CONRAD POTTER], “SAMUEL JEAKE JR.” (1889-1973). A friend and contemporary of T. S. Eliot, Conrad Aiken divided his time between England and the United States before settling in Massachusetts in 1947. He used the Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Nonfiction, Plays, Poetry, Short Story
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Adams, William Taylor (“Oliver Optic”)
Posted in A
Tagged 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, Fiction, Short Story
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Adams, Bertram Martin
by Bert Bender (2000) ADAMS, BERTRAM MARTIN [BILL ADAMS] ( 1879-1953 ). Bill Adams was born in England to American parents. He left college to go to sea at age seventeen in a career that lasted four or five years Continue reading text links
Posted in A
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, First-person narrative, Merchant Marine, Pacific Ocean, Poetry, Short Story
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