A historian of seafaring and society, I have spent much of my life messing about in boats or working on commercial vessels (including big schooners). Boats and books have been the cardinal points of my life's compass. My best-selling book to date, BLACK JACKS: AFRICAN AMERICAN SEAMEN IN THE AGE OF SAIL, reconstructed the experiences of black mariners throughout the Atlantic world during the age of slavery. My most recent book, THE MORTAL SEA: FISHING THE ATLANTIC IN THE AGE OF SAIL, is an environmental history of the North Atlantic prior to the introduction of mechanized fishing. It runs essentially from the Viking age to about World War One, and provides the back-story to the crisis in the living ocean that we now confront. I am equally at home with a deck under my feet or with the treasures of a research library spread before me. I enjoy public speaking and am available for talks on my books and related subjects. Thanks for your interest -- and keep reading!