Author Description

"The extraordinary wreck of a majestic ship, a mysteriously missing crew, a message in a bottle, the lost captain's determined daughter - these are all elements of a great sea yarn, and one that happens to be true. Bland Simpson weaves them together in this nonfiction novel, his reconstruction of a ghost ship's final voyage and its baffling aftermath." "Using contemporary sources including newspapers, FBI reports, ship's logs, and personal and official correspondence, Simpson dramatizes the ghost ship's final voyage, in the same style he employed so successfully in the award-winning nonfiction novel The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey. Interwoven with the historical narrative are the voices of three key participants in the drama: Lula Wormell, the "nervy and sturdy young Maine girl" who inspired the investigation; Christopher Columbus Gray, the fisherman whose discovery caused a sensational panic; and W.O. Saunders, the well-known Elizabeth City, N.C., newspaper editor who was also featured in Nell Cropsey." "To this day, the fate of the Carroll A. Deering is considered one of the greatest mysteries of maritime history. Bland Simpson's haunting chronicle keeps the story alive, an apt memorial to the ghost ship and its lost crew."--Jacket.