Drama at Sea
This week the Egan Maritime Foundation will host two very different programs that illustrate courage at sea.
Tuesday, August 21, at 7 p.m., they will hold a screening of the History Channel’s most watched program of 2006, Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of The Mayflower. The docu-drama will be introduced by Erin Raftery, who starred in the film as Dorothy Bradford, and Nathaniel Philbrick, the nationally acclaimed author and 2007 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War. Philbrick also appears in the film.
Every American knows the story of the Pigrims, their courageous voyage on the Mayflower and the first Happy Thanksgiving. But the homogenized and sanitized history learned as children and revisited every Thanksgiving holiday bears faint resemblance to the actual people and dramatic events of that desperate time. This three-hour special uses dramatic re-enactments based on original source material to bring to life the true story of the Puritans’ terrible plight. From their self-imposed exile in Holland and perilous Atlantic crossing aboard Mayflower to unimaginable hardships encountered in their new land, this is the definitive story of the Pilgrims and how they came to live in the harsh climate of an unfamiliar world.
Dialogue and scenes are from originial source material written by eyewitnesses and participants in the actual events of the early 1600s. In addition, some scenes have been reconstructed with unprecedented cooperation from the Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts. The program features all of the keys characters in the Pilgrim saga, as well as the wives and family members of the settlers. Erin Raftery plays the lead role of Dorothy Bradford, wife of the chronicler William Bradford (without whom the Plymouth colony may not have succeeded). Dorothy Bradford gives us the unique opportunity to experience life as a pilgrim through the eyes of a woman. The film also includes interviews with 15 leading American, Native American and British scholars, among them Nantucket’s esteemed scholar Nathaniel Philbrick.
The screening will begin at 7:00 p.m. and there will be a brief intermission with refreshments. Admission to the screening is $10; free of charge to Egan Maritime Foundation members.
At 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 23, The Egan Maritime Foundation in association with the Nantucket Life-Saving Museum will host US Coast Guard Reserves Commander Martha LaGuardia-Kotite, who will speak about her book, So Others May Live, at the historic Coffin School. The author will be introduced by BMC Terrill J. Malvesti, USCG Brant Point Station USCG.
So Others May Live is the untold story of the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmers. In clear and exceptional writing, Kotite tells twelve heroic stories of the greatest maritime rescues attempted by Coast Guard aircrews since the program was started in 1985. These feats, told through the eyes of the heroes, reveal an understanding of how and why the rescuer, with flight crew assistance, risks his or her own life to reach out to save a stranger. The book covers diverse environments: oceans, hurricanes. oil rigs, caves, sinking vessels, floods, Niagara Falls, and even Hurricane Katrina. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the author’s book will be donated to the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School.
Martha LaGuardia-Kotite’s book has received the Excellence in Boating Journalism Award as well as an award from the Foundation for Coast Guard History for “Best book in the category of Coast Guard heritage,” and was recently selected to be listed on the Commandant of the Coast Guard’s recommended reading list for 2007-08.
LaGuardia-Kotite is a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy and a writer with hundreds of magazine articles to her credit. She has been awarded numerous medals for her leadership and performance in the US Coast Guard. She is as an Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer for Federal Region II and Press Secretary for the Principal Federal Official for the Gulf Region. LaGuardia-Kotite resides in New York City and North West Florida with her husband Peter and their two children Aaron and John.
A reception and booksigning will follow. Admission to the lecture is $5; free of charge to Egan Maritime Foundation members.
