Biography Books

This book needs to be read by everyone especially by all those over 13. I read it frequently and every time I am more amazed by John's incredible greatness, sacrifice, courage and love of children. I am also very thankful that his family, friends, professional co-workers et.all were there to help him. Even Dr. Johnson contacted medical assistance all over the country to help him. It is more tragic that his form of cancer is now much more treatable. The last line says that Coach Baker turned tragedy into an enduring legacy. Amen! The Duke City Dashers and the children of Aspen were so so blessed by their "Coach Baker." My paperback from 1982 has been replaced by a hardcover. Aspen, by his children was named "John Baker Elementary" in tribute to this great man and their "teacher" Words really can't describe him. I am so thankful that Mr. Buchanan has told all of us the life of one of the greatest people that I have ever known and heard about. Truly, Coach has received in heaven all of the crowns, trophies, medals that the Lord provides to His good and faithful servants!!Five stars all around to everyone involved in John Baker's legacy and William J. Buchanan. Coach Baker's story needs to be told even 38 years later!!

I originally read this book about John Baker's life and impact on young people when I was in grade school. I still had it on my bookshelf when I was in college in 1988. I felt a lump on my testicle and immediately saw a doctor. The diagnosis was malignant testicular cancer, but thanks to God and the fact that I had re-read John Baker's story so many times, I caught it early and am completely cured. John's life continues to have an impact on many people long after his tragic death.

I first read this book when it was passed on to me in high school by a friend. The story of John's life and battle with cancer is something that really makes you put your life in perspective and is truly inspirational. I don't know anyone that has made it through the book without some tears...just reading through the reviews here, I found myself with tears streaming down my cheeks. If each of us could do 1/2 the good in our lifetimes that John Baker did in his that ended much too soon, imagine how much better the world would be.

This true story of a runner and coach tugs at your heart strings. It is so sad , at times I could not see the page because of my tears. Mr. Buchanan does a remarkable job of painting the portrait of this young man's life in a realistic manner. Very well written - THIS WAS A GREAT READ!!!

I was 8 years old when John Baker passed away but, I do remember when they changed the name of the school to honor this hero. This book is chicken soup for the human soul. This book belongs in everyone's personal library and it should be read at least once a year to remind us that every little thing counts.

Dear, Ms Ross
I, loved your book, I first would like to say a heart felt Thanks so very much! for attending our book club meeting on Sunday Sept 14, 2008. You have such a beautiful glow. Your story let me know with all the strugles of life you can still perservire. I want you to know, I cried many times reading your story.
Thanks, so much to your Knight in shining armour.

Rochelle

Hello, Thank you very much Mrs.Mary Ross Smith for attending our book club meeting on September 14, 2008, Sunday. Your book was very inspiring
to let me know no matter what may happen in life I can survive. Your determination then and now is encouraging. Please continue to grow and believe that God has many things in store for you. Thanks again Mary and of course I cannot forget to thank your Knight in Shining Armor.

Dearest Mary,

I attended the book reading you gave in West Adams; I also took your
book with me on a trip home to the Bay Area. I read it with a clenched
heart. Oh the pain of having a mother who cannot give you what you
need! And oh the pain of being a mother who, in the end (and perhaps
always), is aware of this. In telling your story, you conveyed the
sheer terror, confusion, and uncertainty of being such a child -- while
also extending your mother moments of generosity and compassion. In
this way, I came to see you as not just the powerless but highly
imaginative and present "Lil Mary," but also the resilient and
open-minded Mary Ross Smith of today. I can't thank you enough for the
gift of your lived insights... Bless your heart and writing hands.

I was "hooked" from the first page. A wonderful story of survival and triumph over adverse conditions. I am lucky to know Little Mary personally. What a wonderful, kind, forgiving, warm person! This story shows anyone with a strong will can overcome adversity.

After having read this book, it makes you appreciate the "normal" upbringing you yourself have had. Mary's early years were anything but normal and it's a miracle that she ends up being happy, content and finding true love instead of an adult alcholic, on drugs or in another abusive relationship, which all too often hapens to young women in similar situations. Her story is a true triumph of the human spirit, an inspirational must read for anyone with similar life experiences.

I bought this months ago and still have it out on my coffee table - that's how much I love this! It is loaded with excellent pictures and makes a great conversation starter when friends and family that come over. The history of the NFL is covered well and the articles offer terrific insights into sports past.

This is a unique, beautifully photographed book! It includes the history of football and large, clear photos of some of the best games! My husband loves it! If you're a football fan, you will treasure this book!

This was the comment of my 7 year old nephew (a Jets fan) when I gave him this book. It has the trademark Sports Illustrated photography, plus lots of old photos showing the infancy of the sport, which are interesting to adults and kids alike. He's a beginning reader, but we enjoyed looking at the pictures, with his guessing which teams were shown based on the uniforms. The Amazon price is a bargain. Highly recommended for boys and fans of all ages!

I bought this book for my 17-yr old who is a visual thinker, not a strong reader, but I loved it too! There are some amazing photos in the book and lots of history of the game and some players. I got a strong sense of the traditions of the game and the excitement for the sport. I am a stronger football fan because of it! I also recommend the rest of this 'series' by Sports Illustrated, The Baseball Book and The Basketball Book.

I got this book for my Dad for xmas & he loved it. It has a lot of great pictures, great articles and goes into the history of football. This is a great gift for older football fans.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the flow and the storytelling narrative. I read this book in 3 days, and I couldn't wait to to hear what would happen in the next chapter. I would like to know how the other characters turned out, but otherwise no complaints. My husband attended a similar English school, and tells some of the same stories.

.
'Stand before your God' by Paul Watkins (1993)

This is an enjoyable book, particularly as it is so well-written. Language is powerfully used, rich, textured, poetic. The book has been well-polished. The writer has made the effort to avoid merely mudane humdrum ways of expressing what he wants to say, and has gone out of his way instead to look for more exciting and innovative clever ways to get his ideas across and make his points instead. It is a good example of a book to hand to someone who wants to see how writing looks and sounds to the ear when it has been done properly.

The writer has observed life well in this book. He expresses many things in ways that make the reader want to say: 'That's exactly it. You hit the nail on the head there. That's exactly right, and couldn't have been put better than the way you have said it.'

The book itself is about the permutations and combinations of school life of an American lad being educated at some of the 'best' schools in England, from age 7 to 18, with the boy flying home to the USA during school holidays.

As respects content, the book tends slightly towards the mundane in places, slightly towards the contrived in other places, but that's only to be expected and it's no less of a book for that. It is a little thin in places on events which are sufficiently out of the ordinary to grip the reader's attention.

The silly capital letters thing was annoying. There was no reason to capitalise particular things in the book in the way they have been capitalised. The writer doing that reminded me of Iain Banks' 'The Wasp Factory'. The technique worked there because the lad there was eccentric, but it doesn't really work with a person from Eton.

Overall: An excellent book. 5/5.

Tailor-made on Saville Row for the American, male, prep-school Anglophiliac, of which, for better or for worse, I ressemble, Paul Watkins' "Stand Before Your God" brought me back into the schoolboy world of English and American boarding schools, especially the multifarious social and economically derived snobberies. It gives the reader a visceral sense of a taken-for-granted lifestyle and the assumed noblesse oblige of preppies from a prior generation. Watkins writes well and evocatively,the above caveats excepted...

Every boarding school kid should read this. At my school, the entire community, faculty and students, was required to read this. And though being at the Dragon School isnt exactly a RI co-ed prep school, so many of the things ring true. Even boys riding mattresses down stairs in their dorms at night, lol. Its a superb read.

I think I would have responded to this book in a very different way if I had read it while a teenager or college student. I would have identified with the adolescent pressures and the adolescent attachments. However I was less impressed by the adolescent angst of the first 80% of the book as I was by the reflection in the final 20% of the book. In this section Watkins identifies 3 themes. First, Watkins describes his growth and movement from the body of a boy to the body of a man through the story of learning to throw the javelin. He describes beautifully and simply the first time he became aware that he had control of his muscles and strength and was leaving the awkwardness of childhood behind. Second, Watkins simply and clearly describes the discovery of his inner reservoir of strength that he develops first as a survivor and observer and finally as a writer. Third, through non-accusational reflection he realizes he was sent to the Dragon School and Eton to fulfill a perceived weakness and vulnerability that Paul's father felt toward the elite uppper class. Thus he sends his child to the best schools to protect him from the barbs of aristocracy. Why do father's do this to their sons? Each man must wrestle with his own vulnerabilities and make peace with his inadequacies. I was also left wondering whether he forgave his mother in the same way he seemed to forgive his father for sending him into this elite and cold experience while still a small child?

Three cheers for this author!! She gave me hope, she gave me courage. She's not bitter or defeated by her tragic loss and she is so willing to help others. It seems to be a God given mission she is on and she is carrying it out well. This book hits you in the heart in a very positive way.

The first ray of hope after losing a child is a wonderful thing. I found mine in this book.

an excellent grief book, i highly recommend it to anyone who has suffered a tragic loss, especially the loss of a child. it was written with honesty and compassion for others who are suffering, by a mom who understands the awful grief process. as a bereaved parent who is always looking for comfort and ways of coping with the loss of my child, the book was excellent.

This book was wonderfully written. I am glad that Marcia was able to write her experiences and feelings to help others like me deal with our pain of loosing a child. I lost my child May 10, 1998 and I can't explain the pain, but having someone out there to share helps to know that I am not alone and there is someone who cares and understands.

I give her alot of praise for all she has been through and how she turned it into a positive instead of a negative. I too made the death of my son into a positive helping others dealing with the same loss. I am the Outreach Coordinator for The Compassionate Friends, Fredericksburg, VA Chapter. With out TCF and people like Marcia, I wouldn't have made it as far as I have.

Thank you Marcia and God Bless you!

This book transcends a mother's grief and is applicable to all the varied losses we experience in life - loss of innocence, loss of a relationship, loss of purpose, as well as the death of a loved one.A must read for everyone.

I bought this book at the American Book Center in The Hague, Netherlands, a few years ago. As I knew many of the places mentioned in the book, it took on an even deeper meaning for me. I love this book, and I list Diet Eman and Hein Sietsma as heroes. Definitely 5+ stars!

Excellent book. The book is fast paced, exciting and touching.

The risks and sacrifices that the author and her fiance went through for their beliefs and for unkwown people amazed and inspired me. Highly recommended.

The account of the author and her experiences fighting the German occupation of Holland during WWII is harrowing. It is hard to imagine that any human being can display so mush courage at such a young age.

The true story of true Christians, and Dutch patriots, Diet Eman and Hein Sietsma, and their courageous risk of everything to resist Nazi tyranny and hide thousands of Dutch Jews.
True Christians always love the Jewish people and Israel, and true nationalists are opposed to both Communism and Nazism, both the antithesis of national self-determination.
Diet recounts her own life, and experiences and what she saw and heard, as well as her deep faith in G-D, that guided her in all she did and thought.
Diet recounts her experiences in Scheveningen prison, where she describes how Jewish families, who were caught in hiding, were hauled into the prison, mothers, fathers and children: 'On the nights the guards brought Jews in, we always heard the children crying all through that place. It was bad enough for us to have to suffer through a place, like Scheveningen, but it was terrible to hear those poor innocent children crying.'
It is up to true Christians and righteous gentiles to stand by the State of Israel today, in the struggle for her survival and that of her children, against the monstrous Islamic-extreme leftist hate machine.

I have read more than 75 books of this genre depicting this period of history. "What would I have done under the same circumstances?" That is the question I am always asking of myself whilst reading these stories. This is the story of a group of people with the courage of their convictions...Diet's story is inspiring and touching. It illustrates perfectly that the power of prayer is undeniable and when 'all one can do is pray' one has done everything.

This is a very incredible and inspiring story of human generosity and perseverance that transcends cultures - and you have already read about the subject matter in the other reviews so I am not going to repeat that. What I did not like was the fictionalized style of prose. The author seems to go inside the heads of the main characters and describe exactly their feelings, thoughts, perceptions etc. and this gives the prose a fictionalized, exaggerated, and subjective feel which applied to a true story, did not somehow feel right. I would have preferred it if the people in this story could have been interviewed to find out exactly how they felt rather than the getting the author's imaginary versions of their reactions. Even though most readers here seem to like it, I feel that this fictionalized style wasn't the right choice for this true story.

I was first introduced to Zubaida and Dr. Peter Grossman in a Discovery Health Channel program, and after reading this book, have seen other angles to this story, the most telling being the love shown by her father, who might have abandoned her to die but didn't.

This is a young woman whose spirit could not be extinguished no matter what happened to her, and let's hope she stays this way. Great things await her, no matter where she ends up in this world.

From the moment nine and a half year old Zubaida Hasan accidentally fell into a kerosene fire while heating water for her bath,I could not put down TINY DANCER. Yes, this is a story filled with Zubaida's physical and mental pain, but this is also a marvelous, true story of hope and human caring ... from the American Green Beret soldier who by chance saw Zubaida and her father on a street in Afghanistan to Dr. Peter and his wife, Rebecca, Grossman in Los Angeles, CA. This is a story of hope, and the very best of human nature in difficult times. Zubaida's transformation back to normalcy thanks to Dr. Grossman's skill and the many individuals willing to become involved despite the possible repercussions to their own careers reinforced my belief in the inherent goodness of people. Bravo!

From Zubaida's catastrophic accident until her return to Afghanistan, TINY DANCER is a remarkable series of miraculous events that is a pageant of human compassion. TINY DANCER is both a marvel and an ordeal to read. Through Anthony Flacco's erudite and eminently readable narration, I suffered the child's torture that would have made me mad before it murdered me. Set against the tumultuous background of 9/11 and the American invasion of Afghanistan, the beginning of the book belongs to Zubaida's devoted father who, in defiance of all that he knew and in exhaustion of all that he had for the sole purpose of saving his little girl, almost eclipses the story of the child who held fast to life with her bare hands. TINY DANCER revealed a kindness in the American Armed Forces that I never would have dreamed existed as the process unfolded that brought the child to the United States and her salvation at great risk to her benefactors. Flacco's revelation of the "domino" effect that supported Zubaida as she was rebuilt and reinvented in our country was compelling with a flow that kept me reading and missing it when I couldn't. TINY DANCER is graceful and powerful and at times, even funny. It's a glorious story with a large human heart and lean muscles. Anthony Flacco is showing great promise as a writer of creative non-fiction. I anticipate his next effort eagerly. To read TINY DANCER is to renew one's faith and to warm one's heart. She's a 21st Century Anne Frank who reveals that in spite of everything, there's good in all of us.

Bill Jackson

When I started to read TINY DANCER, I was expecting to read about the miraculous transformation of a horribly scarred burn victim to healthy girl. That story is told, of course, but it serves as a backdrop for the real story. The true miracle is the network of the American military, U.S. State Department, Non-Government Organizations and stateside citizens who all do what they can to help a stranger in need, despite all the "perfectly good reasons" not to get involved.

What makes this book a remarkable read, however, is the author's seeming ability to get inside Zubaida's head and tell the story from her perspective. Mr. Flacco writes with compassion and empathy in a style that grabs the reader's attention from the first page.

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth.

Two of the greatest names ever to play Major League Baseball and a pair of the most fiercest rivals on the diamond. Ruth was the new-school slugger whose gargantuan homers matched his pursuits off the field. Cobb was the oldest of old-school, a master of "small-ball," who saw the game of titan shots with "juiced" baseballs as an utter abomination.

"Cobb disliked much about Ruth. But one of the things that pricked him most was Ruth's lifestyle. The Babe lived with wild abandon, ignoring curfews, staying out all hours, drinking, partying, overeating, and snaking through towns in search of sex," writes Stanton. "Cobb was nearly fanatical about taking care of himself, about being prepared for games, and about the need to sacrifice for the long term. He felt confident that Ruth's nocturnal adventures would eventually undermine him."

But in retirement, the pair were kept at arm's length by the top executives in the game - Ruth never got a shot at managing a club and Cobb was tarnished by a 1926 gambling scandal "cover-up" - though each eventually found the time to frequently chase a golf ball around 18 holes. Ruth was a five handicap and Cobb a nine.

Author Tom Stanton tees up an interesting dual biography of the legends that is built around a 1941 charity golf match which pitted Ruth against Cobb. Along with coverage of every baseball game the paired played against each other, Stanton drives into the professional hatred which erupted into near brawls and vicious taunts, but eventually evolved into a cordial friendship.

Even the biggest fan of baseball history will find some new gems, especially about Cobb, which is a salute to the solid short game of Stanton; meticulously lofting up to the green buried facts from the sand traps of historical fiction.

An excellent resource for the Baseball fan, who is always looking for good books about the Legends of baseball.

This book was very interesting and informative and obviously well researched since the author is a baseball historian. It makes you feel as if you know the players and are living in their time period but it isn't the most enjoyable book I've ever read. You rarely smile or laugh, there's very little that's amusing even though these are two very colorfull and bigger than life characters so I felt the book could have been a little lighter. Also check out two of my favorites - The Teammates by David Halberstam and When Life Was Baseball Teams and Egg Creams by Craig Howard, the last one being much lighter and more about life in the time period than baseball itself. Good nostalgia though.

I have now read all of Tom Stanton's books, and I have enjoyed them all. I am one of many that had certain perceptions of Ty Cobb's character based on stereoptypical opinion of Cobb in recent years. But Stanton sets the record straight in allowing us to get to know a different Ty Cobb; one who is a great competitor, but no where near the "evil" man that he has been portrayed as. The Babe is as fun loving as ever in this book and it is a fun read. I would recommend it to baseball fans, and golf fans too!

This is a strange little book. For one thing, it presents a far more positive picture of Ty Cobb than one often encounters. Second, golf becomes a key part of the relationship between two bitter antagonists--Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

Ty Cobb was an exemplar of the old fashioned "scientific" approach to baseball, bunts, stolen bases, sacrifices, etc. Babe Ruth was a harbinger of a new era--focusing on the home run.

Cobb versus Ruth, while they were in the major leagues together, had a pretty negative relationship. Cobb had little respect for Ruth; Ruth despised Cobb.

The book tells of their slowly evolving relationship, to the point where they expressed respect toward one another by the end of Cobb's career.

Their rivalry took a turn after their respective retirements. Both became avid golfers. They took part in a series of golf matches, where there was much greater camaraderie than when they played baseball.

The book chronicles that strange evolution in their relationship.

There is a nice appendix, which chronicles those games in which they opposed one another. Interesting. . . .

An offbeat little book that ends up humanizing Cobb.

Well written history is a rare treat, and rarer still is a history by one who lived through it. Grant writes engagingly and humorously and with great humility for a man who achieved so much. That he wrote this in the throes of cancer, finishing it on death's door and yet has no sence of savig himself or self pity is remarkable. It's a pity there is no one like this in the elections.

References to political memoirs often suggest that Grant's memoirs are some of the best ever published. Have worked my way slowly through almost 800 pages of his memoirs, the accolades are deserved. Autobiographies by their nature are bound to be someway self-serving (he makes no reference to his well documented drink problems) and I am sure many historians could pick flaws with some of Grant's recollections, but the book is exceptionally well written and interesting. To my surprise, the author comes across as being compassionate and showing a high degree of empathy for many he fought against during the civil war.

He is very honest in his commentaries and is not afraid to be critical of US policy. The Mexican-American war (1846-1848) was unnecessarily provoked and in his opinion "the war which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation. ... We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that the Mexicans should commence it."

Grant is not shy in admitting that especially in his early military career, he was often frightened and would rather have been somewhere else when the bullets were flying. He is also self-effacing and sometimes humorous about his impact in early combat situations. "My exploit was equal to that of the soldier who boasted that he had cut of the leg of one of the enemy. When asked why he had not cut off his head, he replied: `Someone had done that before.' "

Grant is a very good storyteller and has an excellent eye for detail and description. His contrasting profiles of Generals Taylor and Scott whom he fought under during the Mexican war are models of clarity and painting pictures with words.

His account of the civil war contains numerous interesting anecdotes including one instance when inspecting a picket line which was close to a Confederate picket line. After his picket line called "Turn out the guard for the commanding General," he heard a similar command from the Confederate picket and a reference to General Grant. The Confederate line saluted "which I returned." - Amazing!

Obviously, the bulk of his memoirs relate to the civil war. He suggests that he was of the same mind set as Secretary of State Seward, "that the war would be over in ninety days." Grant is very respectful of many of his former colleagues who fought against him during this war. He has little respect for the "Demagogues who were to old to enter the army ... others who entertained so high an opinion of their own ability that they did not believe they could be spared from the direction of the state of affairs," but who constantly poured oil on the secessionist fire.

He lauds many of his comrades including Generals Sherman and Sheridan. While respecting Secretary of War Stanton, he does not appear to have been a great fan of his style of management. He also writes approvingly of Confederate Generals Longstreet, Lee, Bragg, Joseph Johnston and others, and takes great delight in ridiculing the military genius of Confederate President Jefferson Davis who he obviously despised. Grant writes sensitively of General Lee and the surrender at Appomattox.

The author believes the death of Lincoln was a disaster not just for the North, but for the vanquished South. "He would have proven the best friend the South could have had." Interestingly, Grant makes no reference to the Gettysburg Address and to the best of my recollection only references the Battle of Gettysburg but once. He was otherwise involved in the Battle of Vicksburg at the same time.

I glossed over some of the detailed military and battle descriptions in this book, but overall it is a great read. It is also interesting to note that the book saved Grant's penurious family from a life of poverty. Published by his friend Samuel Clemens, these memoirs became a bestseller after Grant died from throat cancer.

U.S. Grant is often said to have been a failure at everything in his life except his marriage, war, and his memoirs. The latter, written as he was dying of throat cancer in 1884-1885, provide a straightforward account of his years in uniform during the Civil War.

Grant passes quickly over his Ohio boyhood and time at the United States Military Academy. His service in the Mexican War and his financial misfortunes out of uniform between the wars get only slightly more coverage. His story really begins with his return to uniform in 1861 as a commander of Illinois volunteers. The narrative follows Grant's campaigns in Missouri, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, his elevation to supreme command of the Union Armies, and the final grinding agony of the war in Virgina. The account ends with the cessation of hostilies in 1865.

Grant's memoirs are remarkable reading for a number of reasons. First, they provide insight into the first-rate military mind of a consistantly successful general. Grant's ability to determine the essentials of a situation and remain focused on them are evident. Second, the memoirs are a classic example of clear, simple, English narrative. Third, they display the considerable modesty of a naturally reserved man, a departure from the egotism often found in the personal memoirs of famous men. Grant himself continues to be something of a mystery to historians; these memoirs do not really lift the veil of his sense of privacy.

The Union Army of the Civil War had more than its fair share of politicians in uniform and politically-minded generals. Grant was not immune to spinning history his way; careful-eyed scholars have found more than a few instances where Grant remembered only part of the story or settled a few scores with old opponents. Nevertheless, Grant's memoirs are a valuable resource for understanding the conduct of the Civil War, not least because Grant became such a key figure in the winning of it.

Grant's memoirs are highly recommended to students of the Civil War, and to scholars seeking to understand the art of war in the midst of rebellion.

General Grant's use of the English language is very interesting and informative. Absolutely a pleasure to read.

This book is a must-read for any Civil War or American history buff. Grant's writing is consistently clear, elegant, beautiful. He gives an engaging account of his wartime experiences that are accurate to the best of his ability, and he writes with introspection and humility. The personal letters at the end of the volume reveal much about this fascinating man, and are a welcome addition. Please read this one! Another wonderful book in this series is the volume containing Frederick Douglass's autobiographical works.

An interesting look at the life of an interesting personality. I don't understand the socialist attitude about money and investment. Mr. Hayden gives a good look at the attitude but doesn't clarify it.

I recommend his novel Voyage.

This book is as convoluted as its author. It maintains a flow of semi-stream-of-consciousness from start to finish, and what emerges are the memoirs of a man whose love of seafaring and considerable self-deprecation ("self-loathing" is a little too strong a term) has brought him to a sea voyage to Tahiti with a pick-up crew and his four children in violation of a court order. Hayden's story is it's own animal, going from the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, to the forests of Yugoslavia, to courtrooms and congressional chambers and movie sets and finally to the high seas and South Pacific islands with a strain of fatalism and regret throughout. It should make for a downer of a read; instead, I found myself staying up and turning the pages to see what happened next. A great book.

I would like to add something to the excellent and perceptive reviews above. What came through so strongly is that life is messy, yet Hayden's remarkable self awareness didn't seem to help him. This is a fascinating look inside a big life. I found it valuable.

I believe it was 1959 and I had just returned from a month's cruise to the Tuamotus and Marquesas islands on the copra schooner Charlotte Donald. I was sitting at a table on the quay in front of the Hotel Le Grand when the schooner first appeared off Papeete. It sailed in smartly, picked up the Pilot, and docked stern first, as was the custom, at the concrete quay. The name "Wanderer" was nicely affixed to her transom. I lived in District Punavia, kilometer thirteen, next to Paul Gauguin's old home by the Thompsons. Several weeks later I would board the Wanderer after meeting her skipper at a party to buy some of the 16mm color film he had for sale. He was courteous, the children were well mannered, the library below was impressive, and his ship was clean and appeared to be able to sail on a minute's notice. We chatted for some time and he recounted some stories of his trip. We knew the same haunts in coastal California. We met a couple of more times at functions on the island. He seemed to be a cheerful and courteous person. He was a large man and deep voiced and I knew he was an actor, but that's about all I knew. Not long ago I had written my autobiography and had made a small mentioned of the encounter and the film. A friend who read my book asked if I had read Hayden's biography, which I hadn't. He suggested I do so, and last month I ordered it from Amazon. The book was disheartening for me to read. While he and I had many similarities in our lives (I wasn't an actor) and had been to many of the same places, we came away with massively different reactions. Mr. Hayden is a good writer and tells, especially about his life at sea, in an authentic style that kept me reading. I don't know if I would have finished if there weren't the similarity of our experiences. The sparse interjection of the third person voice over his normal narrative of first person was effectively used. The book and his life stand on their own merits and I make no judgment. He was first and foremost a seafaring man of unusual talents, and I wish I had visited him in the States in our later years. Mr. Hayden, you steered the course you wanted in recounting the voyages of your life. That's about all most of us could ask for. Rest in peace.

PS:
Spike Africa, his mate, came as a surprise, or else I had forgotten. Skip ahead twenty years and I chartered the "Spike Africa", a 70 foot schooner out of Newport Beach California somewhere around 1979 for a company off-site (the exact thing Hayden despised ... sorry). Bob Sloan built and then christened the boat "Spike Africa". The California yachting community all knew of Spike Africa the man, as a legend in the Pacific ocean, although I never knew any details of the legend.

Hayden was one of those force of nature types who, sadly don't exist in sufficient quantities to make the world a really interesting place. In this book, he tells his life story, while telling the story of his last voyage on the 100 foot schooner, Wanderer. His prose is lovely and has the rythm of the sea; like other great works of sea literature (like Moby Dick). I'll give a high point of his prose before I complain:

"What does a man need ---really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in --and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all --in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where then lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be, bankruptcy of purse of bankrutpcy of life?"

Hayden was a child of the depression who worked his way out of bad circumstances by a combination of stubbornness, physique and leadership skill. He is eventually given a job a an actor, after being spotted by the media during a sailboat race in Glocester. He abandons this due to a love affair with an actress who fancies herself concerned with serious social issues. He joins the war and does OSS/CIA type operations in maritime support of partisans in Yugoslavia. He returns to his acting. Makes many movies. Marries an evil shrew. Divorces. Gets the kids. Chucks it all for a trip to Tahiti in his 100 foot yacht. All this is well and good, but the man reveals too much about himself. His self loathing isn't interesting. It is certainly not edifying, and though he seems to abundantly pity himself, I cannot feel sorry for him. The man had many fine opportunities. He had fine charachter qualities; I admire the fact that he chucked it all, just because he didn't like it. But he was not a fine man: he was petty and ugly -he couldn't even treat his own widowed mother decently, and though his ex wife was probably no better, I rather doubt as being around such a tormented spirit was good for his kids. In that way, he is a tragic figure; all the more tragic because he doesn't seem to realize it himself. It is no suprise he never did much with himself after he wrote the book. I don't know this to be true, but I suspect he drown himself and his self-loathing in booze.

Still, it is a beautifully written book. In a way, the book is his triumph over it all. It is doubtless a finer thing than any of the movies he made, and his great "the heck with it all" dramatic gesture is probably better than any he made on camera. I know I will read the book again. Perhaps when I am older I will think differently of Captain Hayden. Amusingly, a visit to Sausalito revealed that I had known Hayden as the demented General Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove."