Posted by Wayne G.Barber
News, Lively Literati, Poetry, Publishing Questions, Book Signings, Author Interviews
E-Mail the program at waynewnr@yahoo.com
Podcast to follow later at anchor.fm/wayne-barber
At 9:05am Author Alexander R. Brash will discuss his new book,
A Whaler at Twilight
Nestled at the bottom of an old leather trunk for well over a century lay a forgotten manuscript—a long-lost story the author's great-great-grandson has now brought to life. At the heart of A Whaler at Twilight is the true account of an American whaler who embarked on a harrowing adventure in the South Pacific during the mid-nineteenth century in search of absolution and redemption. After the deaths of his parents, young Robert Armstrong lived with a successful uncle—a well-respected Methodist shopkeeper in bustling 1840s Baltimore—and attended the nation’s first dental school. But Armstrong threw his future away, drinking himself into oblivion. Devoured by guilt and shame, in December 1849 he sold his dental instruments, his watch, and all other possessions and signed on for a whaling voyage departing from New Bedford.
Decades later, Armstrong wrote an autobiographical account based on his travel logs, chronicling his thrilling, gritty experiences during his ten years overseas. His memoirs describe his encounters with other whalers, beachcombers, Peruvian villagers, Pacific Islanders, Maori warriors in New Zealand, cannibals on Fiji, and the impacts of American expansionism. He also recounted his struggles with drink, his quest for God, and his own redemption.
Armstrong’s gripping personal account is bookended by thoroughly researched contextual background compiled by Alexander Brash, a noted professional conservationist. Brash fills out Armstrong’s intimate and timeless tale by shedding further light on whaling and its impacts, his ancestor’s religious milieu, and the importance of marine conservation today. A Whaler at Twilight is a fascinating dive into both human morality and American history.
At 9:35am Rev. Edward McClelland and his book, Memories of Fairlawn
This memoir took about two years to complete and was useful in piecing events together in my life that I learned many of life’s lessons from. It was also enjoyable reminiscing about the place where I grew up and stories that I was told. Many of these stories were told and re-told to me from my earliest days and I have had the good fortune to remember most of them. The rest are events that I personally experienced or were events that I was personally told about, with some historical sports information from old newspaper accounts. I attempted to keep the focus on events that happened in regards to the people and places in and around Fairlawn, from the nineteen thirties though the nineteen nineties. I omitted most of the tragic events that I know of and my experiences and tales that I heard from other areas as much as I could. I do not take any side with any of the adversarial events, but merely report what I know to be true and what I was told was true.
For anyone reading that is not familiar with the area. Fairlawn has a rich history and is mostly a working-class neighborhood and has always been a desirable place to live. It geographically encompasses two small areas of land in two different municipalities. One portion is in the city of Pawtucket in the state of Rhode Island and the other further north is in the town of Lincoln, Rhode Island. All of the stories here are true to the best of my knowledge, but I have changed some of the names and places for anonymity.
