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: Multimedia/Multimodal
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
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Children's Writing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Piracy
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Ocean, Plays, War
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Gender/Sexuality and the Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Multimedia/Multimodal, Pacific Islands, Passenger Travel, Plays, Recreation
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Fishing, Great Lakes, Journalism, Merchant Marine, Multimedia/Multimodal, Poetry, Science/Nature, Short Story
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Fiction, Island Life, Multimedia/Multimodal, Recreation
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Children's Writing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction, Pacific Islands, Short Story
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Rowson, Susanna H.
by Philip Barnard (2000) ROWSON, SUSANNA H[ASWELL]. (1762-1824). Born in Portsmouth, England, Susanna H. Rowson became an actress, educator, prolific writer in several genres, and notably the author of Charlotte Temple (1791), America’s first best-selling novel. Rowson’s father, William Haswell, was Continue reading text links
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Tagged 18th Century, 19th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Merchant Marine, Multimedia/Multimodal, Passenger Travel, Plays
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal
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Nordhoff, Charles, the younger AND James Norman Hall
by Grove Koger (2000) NORDHOFF, CHARLES [BERNARD] the younger (1887-1947) AND JAMES NORMAN HALL (1887-1951). Writers Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall were born the same year but worlds apart, Nordhoff in London of American parents and Hall in Colfax, Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Maritime History, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, War
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Mitchell, Joseph
by Eleanore MacLean (2014) MITCHELL, JOSEPH (1908-1996). Joseph Mitchell grew up in Fairmont, North Carolina, a farming town in the state’s coastal plains. In 1929 Mitchell moved to New York City and began his career working as a crime reporter and Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Fishing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction, Short Story, video
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Matthiessen, Peter
by Eric G. Waggoner (2000) MATTHIESSEN, PETER (1927-2014). New York-born Peter Matthiessen has borne the double titles of author and naturalist since the beginning of his professional writing career. Son of an architect father who was also a trustee of the Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Fishing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction, Science/Nature, Short Story
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King, Stephen
by Richard J. King (2000) KING, STEPHEN [EDWIN] (1947- ). Although Stephen King sets much of his best-selling fiction in Maine, the New England coastal state of his birth and residence, he rarely writes about the sea. King has written dozens Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Coastal Life, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Science Fiction, Short Story
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Kent, Rockwell
by Doug Capra (2000) KENT, ROCKWELL (1882-1971). Rockwell Kent, painter, writer, adventurer, graphic artist, and political activist, was born in Tarrytown Heights, New Jersey. He trained as an architect at Columbia University and studied painting under William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction, Pacific Ocean
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Johnson, Irving
by Mary K. Bercaw Edwards (2000) JOHNSON, IRVING [McCLURE] (1905-1991). Irving Johnson grew up on a farm in the Connecticut River valley of Massachusetts. Inspired by Jack London’s novels, he had an unswerving desire to go to sea and work with Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction, video
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James, Henry
by Greg W. Zacharias (2000) JAMES, HENRY (1843-1916). Henry James made nineteen Atlantic crossings and lived for much of his life in seacoast cities and villages. In his longer fiction, scenes near the English Channel in What Maisie Knew (1897) and Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Arctic, Children's Writing, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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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
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Tagged 20th Century, Exploration, Fishing, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard
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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
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Caribbean, Exploration, First-person narrative, Multimedia/Multimodal
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Gilkerson, William
by Michael P. Dyer (2000) GILKERSON, WILLIAM (1936-2015). William Gilkerson wrote nine books, most of which relate directly to maritime history. His first book, Gilkerson on War–From Rocks to Rockets (1964), is an exception, as it only touches upon maritime Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Fiction, Maritime History, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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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
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Great Lakes, Journalism, Multimedia/Multimodal, Nonfiction
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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, Joanna Carver
by Mary Malloy (2000) COLCORD, JOANNA CARVER (1882-1960). Born aboard the Charlotte A. Littlefield, a vessel commanded by her father, Joanna Carver Colcord spent her first eighteen years at sea. She went ashore to attend the University of Maine and graduated Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Caribbean, Multimedia/Multimodal
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Byles, Mather
by John T. Shawcross BYLES, MATHER (1707-1788). Congregational minister, sermonizer, and poet, Mather Byles was the grandson of Increase Mather. Among his publications are two notable volumes, Poems on Several Occasions (1744) and Poems. The Conflagration. . . The God of Tempest and Continue reading text links
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
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Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Fiction, Multimedia/Multimodal, Navy/Coast Guard, Nonfiction
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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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Behrman, S. N.
by David R. Pellegrini (2000) BEHRMAN, S[AMUEL]. N[ATHANIEL]. (1893-1973). The prolific playwright S. N. Behrman was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, into dire poverty; his entry into professional theatre was rapid, and by the mid-1920s he was already a notable literary Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Caribbean, Island Life, Multimedia/Multimodal, Plays
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Audubon, John James
by R.D Madison (2000) AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES (1785-1851). Born in Haiti and raised in France, John James Audubon became the world’s premier bird artist with the publication of The Birds of America (1827-1838). Audubon accompanied his life-size drawings with five volumes of Continue reading text links
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Tagged 19th Century, First-person narrative, Multimedia/Multimodal, video
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Ashley, Clifford
By Nicole Williams (2020) CLIFFORD WARREN ASHLEY (1881-1947). Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1881, Ashley enjoyed a successful career as a maritime artist and historian of the American whaling industry. His work romanticized New England’s whaling past as the Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Atlantic Ocean, Immigration, Merchant Marine, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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Argento, Dominick
by Jill B. Gidmark (2000) ARGENTO, DOMINICK (1927- 2019). Son of Sicilian immigrant parents, Dominick Argento won a Pulitzer Prize in music in 1975 for his mezzo-soprano song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Argento has lived near water, Continue reading text links
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Tagged 20th Century, Multimedia/Multimodal, Whaling/Sealing
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