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: Journalism
Ballou, Maturin Murray (“Lieut. Murray,” “Frank Forester”)
by Mary Malloy (2000) [BALLOU, MATURIN MURRAY], “LIEUT. MURRAY,” “FRANK FORESTER” (1820-1895). An influential publisher of American periodicals, Maturin Murray Ballou was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He traveled extensively and entered the literary world by writing descriptive letters of his Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Exploration, Fiction, Journalism, Nonfiction
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Peterson, Charles Jacob (“J. Thornton Randolph” or “Harry Danforth”)
by Robert L. Gale (2000) [PETERSON, CHARLES JACOB], “HARRY DANFORTH,” “J. THORNTON RANDOLPH” (1819-1887). Charles Jacob Peterson was an editor, publisher, and historian, born in Philadelphia, where he worked all his life. Once he acquired an ample fortune, he and Continue reading text links
Posted in P
Tagged 19th Century, Journalism, Maritime History, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, War
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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
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
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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
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Nordhoff, Charles, the elder
by John B. Hattendorf (2000) NORDHOFF, CHARLES, the elder (1830-1901). A journalist, Charles Nordhoff was born in Erwitte, a village in Westphalia, Prussia. At five, he emigrated with his parents to Ohio, where they died. Left an orphan in the care Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Fishing, Indian Ocean, Island Life, Journalism, Merchant Marine, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean, Whaling/Sealing
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Nemerov, Howard
by William E. Tanner (2000) NEMEROV, HOWARD [STANLEY] (1920-1991). Howard Nemerov was born in New York City and died in University City, Missouri. He served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force before joining the U.S. Air Force Continue reading text links
Posted in N
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Journalism, Poetry, Short Story, War
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Kolbert, Elizabeth
by Rachel Earnhardt (2016) KOLBERT, ELIZABETH (1961-) Born in New York City, Elizabeth Kolbert is a preeminent literary journalist and author. After graduating from Yale University with a degree in literature in 1983, Kolbert studied at the Universität Hamburg in Germany on Continue reading text links
Posted in Articles, K
Tagged 21st Century, audio, Journalism, Nonfiction, Science/Nature
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Sleeper, John Sherburne (“Hawser Martingale”)
by Peter H. McCracken (2000) [SLEEPER, JOHN SHERBURNE], “HAWSER MARTINGALE” (1794-1878). An author and journalist from New England, John Sherburne Sleeper first went to sea in 1809 as a cabin boy and assumed his first command in 1821. By 1825 he Continue reading text links
Posted in S
Tagged 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, First-person narrative, Journalism, Merchant Marine, Nonfiction
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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 19th Century, 20th Century, Exploration, Fiction, Journalism, Plays, Poetry
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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 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction, Island Life, Journalism, Nonfiction, Whaling/Sealing
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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 20th Century, cruise ships, Fiction, Journalism, Recreation (beaches, Short Story, small boat sailing
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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 20th Century, Journalism, Maritime History, Middle Passage and Enslavement, Navy/Coast Guard
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Goodrich, Marcus
by C. Herbert Gilliland (2000) GOODRICH, MARCUS [AURELIUS] (1897-1991). Novelist Marcus Goodrich was born 28 November 1897, in San Antonio, Texas. Enlisting in the navy in 1916, he served initially in the Philippines aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Chauncey. With the Continue reading text links
Posted in G
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, First-person narrative, Journalism, Navy/Coast Guard
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Douglass, Frederick
by Susan F. Beegel (2000) DOUGLASS, FREDERICK (1818-1895). Abolitionist, orator, social reformer, editor, author, and consul general to Haiti, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery as Frederick Augustus Bailey. He spent the early years of his childhood in Talbot County, Continue reading text links
Posted in D
Tagged 19th Century, First-person narrative, Journalism, Middle Passage and Enslavement
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Davis, Richard Harding
by Linda Ledford-Miller (2000) DAVIS, RICHARD HARDING (1864-1916). Born in Philadelphia, Richard Harding Davis was the first child born to the journalist L. Clarke Davis and the fiction writer Rebecca Harding Davis. He soon followed in his parents’ footsteps as a Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Caribbean, Journalism, Passenger Travel, Plays, Short Story, War
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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
Posted in C
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Journalism, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction
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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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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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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
Posted in C
Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Journalism, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, Whaling/Sealing
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Buckley, William F., Jr.
by Robert C. Foulke (2000) BUCKLEY, WILLIAM F[RANK]., Jr. (1925-2008). William F. Buckley Jr., prolific journalist, author, and editor of National Review, is also a passionate sailor. Those two worlds join in a trilogy of narratives about monthlong ocean cruises Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, cruise ships, Journalism, Passenger Travel, Recreation (beaches, small boat sailing
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Bryant, William Cullen
by Joseph Flibbert (2000) BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN (1794-1878). William Cullen Bryant was born and raised in the back country of western Massachusetts, where an early talent for versifying displayed in religious, sentimental, and satiric poems culminated in the publication in Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, Exploration, Journalism, Passenger Travel, Poetry
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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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Boyer, Dwight
by David D. Anderson (2000) BOYER, DWIGHT (1912-1977). A journalist, photographer, and feature writer for the Toledo Blade, 1944-1954, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1954-1977, Dwight Boyer grew up and spent his professional life on the south shore of Lake Erie. He Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Great Lakes, Journalism, Multimedia/Multimodal, Oral tradition
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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
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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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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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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
Posted in B
Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Children's Writing, Fiction, First-person narrative, Journalism, Navy/Coast Guard, War
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