Author and Swordfishing Captain to Speak at McKendree on Nov. 9

Linda Greenlaw of ‘The Perfect Storm’ Will Share ‘Lessons from the Sea’

(LEBANON, Ill., October 17, 2016) — Lifelong commercial fisherman and author Linda Greenlaw will share “Lessons from the Sea” on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. at McKendree University’s Hettenhausen Center for the Arts.

America’s only female swordfishing captain first came to the public’s attention in the book, “The Perfect Storm,” in which author Sebastian Junger called her “one of the best captains, period, on the entire east coast.” She was featured on the Discovery Channel series “Swords: Life on the Line” from 2009 to 2011, and has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Today,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and National Public Radio.

Greenlaw worked in commercial swordfishing to pay for her tuition at Colby College, where she majored in English. After she graduated, she returned to life on the sea. She is the author of three New York Times nonfiction bestsellers: “The Hungry Ocean,” “The Lobster Chronicles” and “All Fishermen Are Liars,” as well as two mysteries, “Slipknot” and “Fisherman’s Bend.” “Seaworthy: A Swordfish Boat Captain Returns to The Sea” chronicles her return to swordfishing after ten years as a lobsterman. Her 2013 work, “Lifesaving Lessons: Notes From An Accidental Mother,” chronicles how she became a troubled teen’s legal guardian.

She is the winner of the 2004 New England Book Award for nonfiction and the 2003 U.S. Maritime literature award. She has worked as a consultant for the Kenyan government and a Dubai-based company establishing baseline fisheries resource statistics off the coast of Kenya and Somalia. She operates a custom boat shop, works on a mystery series, fishes for lobster and halibut, and serves as honorary chair of The Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Campaign for the Gulf of Maine.

Admission to the event is free but reservations are recommended. Call the Hett box office at 618-537-6863 or visit theHett.com for information. Greenlaw will be on campus at McKendree University as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

 

Linda Greenlaw