Michael Tougias Author Visit at the Hanson Public Library

Michael Tougias Author Visit at the Hanson Public Library

Michael Tougias to Present Slide Presentation on The Coast Guard's Most Daring Rescue

 

Author Michael Tougias will visit the Hanson Public Library on Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. to give a slide presentation on his book The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue. The Disney Corporation is making a movie based on the book starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck. The program is sponsored by the Hanson Public Library Foundation, Inc., and is free and open to the public but requires preregistration. Please email info@hansonlibrary.org or call the library at 781-293-5948 to register.

 

On February 18^th, 1952, an astonishing maritime event began when a ferocious nor'easter split in half a 500-foot long oil tanker, the Pendleton, approximately one mile off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Incredibly, just twenty miles away, a second oil tanker, the Fort Mercer, also split in half. On both fractured tankers men were trapped on the severed bows and sterns, and all four sections were sinking in 60-foot seas. Thus began a life and death drama of survival, heroism, and a series of tragic mistakes. Of the 84 seamen aboard the tankers, 70 would be rescued and 14 would lose their lives. (Disney is making a movie ofThe Finest Hours and the book was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, selected as a "must read".)

 

Michael Tougias, co-author of The Finest Hours, will use slides of the storm, sinking tankers, rescues, victims, survivors and heroes to tell the story of this historic event.  Tougias will describe the harrowing attempts to rescue the seamen, especially focusing on four young Coast Guardsmen who had to overcome insurmountable odds to save the lives of 32 crewmen stranded aboard the stern of the Pendleton. Standing between the men and their mission were towering waves that reached 70 feet, blinding snow, and one of the most dangerous shoals in the world, the dreaded Chatham Bar. The waters along the outer arm of Cape Cod are called "the graveyard of the Atlantic" for good reason, and this rescue defied all odds.

 

"I enjoy doing these programs," says Tougias, "because I like to transport the audience into the heart of the storm so that they ask themselves 'what would I have done.'  With a slide presentation, the viewer can visually relive the adventure." Tougias continues, "This event was--and still is-- the greatest and most daring sea rescue ever performed by the Coast Guard, and it happened right here off the New England coast. I felt this episode of heroism and tragedy needed to be told in its entirety because it's an important piece of overlooked history. h

 

A book signing will follow the program, and the presentation is suitable for all ages. NY Times bestselling author James Brady says, "The Finest Hoursrecounts incredible heroism…A Gripping Read." The Finest Hours has been the #4 bestselling non-fiction book in New England according to the New England Booksellers Association.

 

Michael Tougias is the author of 18 books including Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea, which the Los Angeles Times called "breathtaking…a marvelous and terrifying tale" and a new book recently released from Simon and Schuster,  A Storm Too Soon: A True Story of Disaster, Survival, and an Incredible Rescue. Tougias' previous book Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do During the Blizzard of '78 received an Editor's Choice Selection from the American Library Association which selected it as one of the top books of the year. Visitwww.michaeltougias.com  for more information.