"Hope dies hard with a sailor." — W. B. Cullen, mate of the Roanoke, 1909
Globe and Mail bestselling author Robert C. Parsons presents more than fifty exciting stories of high-seas adventure! Set mainly along the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1800s and 1900s, these are true stories of men and women who faced the deadly Atlantic Ocean—and won.
Featuring:
Ann Harvey of Isle aux Morts, a teenaged girl who helped rescue 160 passengers of the doomed brig Dispatch in 1828
George Lake of Fortune, captain of the schooner George Ewart, who narrowly escaped death when an iron steamer smashed into his vessel off the coast of Spain in 1917
Captain Frank Poole of Belleoram and crew of the schooner Dorothy P. Sarty, who in 1954 were shipwrecked and rowed twenty-five miles to shore in a lifeboat . . . and even refused a lift from a passing coal carrier
Captain Arthur Jackman of Renews and crew of the Plover, who in 1890 were at death's door after the sinking of their steamship but were rescued in the nick of time
Henry Taylor of Newfoundland, captain of the barque Constance, who in 1884 was awarded by the Italian Admiralty for rescuing three Italian harbour pilots
The forty-six men and seventeen women who miraculously escaped the wreck of the steamer Capulet after it went aground at St. Shotts in 1896
. . . and many more!

Robert C. Parsons has been called one of the most popular and prolific writers on the subject of Atlantic Canada’s ships and ship disasters. He is the author of more than twenty-five non-fiction books. His work has also appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines such as Downhome, the Telegram, the Newfoundland Quarterly, and Newfoundland Lifestyles.In May 2009, Robert’s nonfiction prose was judged an award winner in the annual Arts and Letters Competition.In December that same year, he was presented with the Polaris Award from the Canadian Coast Guard Alumni Association, Newfoundland and Labrador division, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation and public awareness of the marine heritage and history in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. This award was only given out two previous times in the years of the Alumni Association’s existence.Robert’s book Courting Disaster: True Crime and Mischief on Land and Sea was a Globe and Mail bestseller.A former fish plant worker and educator and a present-day researcher and devotee of all items marine-related, Robert lives in Grand Bank, Newfoundland.

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