Golden Light: The 1878 Diary of Captain Thomas Rose Lake - Hardcover

James B. Kirk; Thomas Rose Lake

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0945582854 ISBN 13: 9780945582854

Publisher: Down The Shore Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

Discover the 19th century along the mid-Atlantic through one year in the life of a young Jersey Shore sea captain. With extraordinary details, this book is a wondrous vehicle for traveling back to 1878. "It's a little slice of history that needed to be smelt, felt and looked at. I feel incredibly lucky to have brought it to people," the author, James Kirk III, told The New York Times in an interview. The book is based on the 1878 ship's record kept by Capt. Thomas Rose Lake in a tiny leather diary. Miraculously, it survived a century and fell into the hands of James B. Kirk, II an English teacher and historian. With annotations and details imbuing this journal with context, he turned the captain's observations into a fascinating picture of a vanished time, place, and way of life. In the Foreword, New Jersey's eminent historian John T. Cunningham, who offered early encouragement to the author, calls this "a volume that is a treasure trove." Thomas D. Carroll, folklorist and writer, who has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and worked for the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution, calls the work "a Rosetta stone" for the late 19th century coast. Maritime historian John M. Kochiss describes the magic of reading the first-hand history this way: "Unlike any other book before, I found myself mouthing, then almost hearing Captain Lake's words... And all this alchemy brews forth." And Stephen Dunn, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, says: "History needs its passionate pursuers. Golden Light is alive with such attentiveness." The 45½-foot sloop Golden Light sailed the coast from Virginia to New York and back again with cargoes of clams, oysters, fish oil, or sweet potatoes. The crew encountered storms and heavy seas, but also found excitement in races with other boats, in the people they met, in the places they put in. Golden Light provides a rare picture of the all but forgotten east coast oyster trade in the last quarter of the 19th century -- the end of the age of sail and the agrarian era in America. As such it is of great value to social historians. It is also an indelible and moving document of the last year in a young man's life. Capt. Lake, a gregarious young soul, found his south Jersey home, the bustling New York harbor, and backwater of Virginia equally fascinating, and his experiences touch us as an example of a good life -- even when it is painfully clear that the life is to be cut short. As the author writes of the diary: "In its pages is the final cry of a way of life which, for better or worse, would return no more. As such, the diary is a poignant vignette -- an ambrotype faded at the edges but with the central portrait clear -- of a young man's happiness, simplicity, and struggle. It must give us pause." James B. Kirk II died before the work was completed and his son James B. Kirk III finished the task so lovingly begun.

About this title

About the Author

James B. Kirk III teaches in the Writing Program at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. His work has appeared in Ploughshares, Atlanta Review, Snowy Egret and many others. His awards in poetry include the Daniel Morse Poetry Prize, two New Jersey State Council on the Arts Awards and a Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. His father James B. Kirk II, who began this book, taught English and history at Ocean City, New Jersey, High School and became the director of the guidance department there. In 1982 he was named official historian for the city of Linwood, New Jersey, his hometown. He died in 1992.

From the Back Cover

Miraculously, a tiny leather-bound diary survived for over one hundred years, its faded words telling the story of a year in the life of Captain Thomas Rose Lake, and his sloop, Golden Light. Recorded in 1878, just before Lake's death from tuberculosis at age twenty-two, this document eventually fell into the hands of James B. Kirk II, an English teacher and historian. With fascinating annotations, the humble entries of Captain Lake have been transformed into this remarkable and moving book.

From the Inside Flap

In January 1878, Thomas Rose Lake, a twenty-one year old bayman and farmer from southern New Jersey, became captain of the coasting sloop, Golden Light. Brimming with a young man's enthusiasm, Thomas decided to keep a diary of his new responsibilities, and of his days at sea, sailing his cargo between New York City's oyster basin and Virginia. Through the events at sea and on shore over the year, a picture emerges of the young captain. Despite the onset of tuberculosis that would soon kill him, the uncomplaining Thomas was never idle. When not at sea, he would be overhauling the boat, planting, harvesting, working with his father on the oyster platforms, or helping in the family store. A gregarious soul, there are many references to social occasions - oyster suppers, "pick nicks" and beach parties. With friends, he would visit Atlantic City and "Philadelpfia." Again and again he tells us he "saw a good time."

He faithfully records storms, winds and temperature; the shoals and narrows of his daily journeys. While the work was hard and sometimes tedious, there was excitement, too - in maneuvering through challenging seas, in races with other boats, in the people he met and welcomed aboard. The bustling New York harbor was clearly a fascinating place in 1878, especially for a young man from the rural backwater.

With detailed, enlightening annotations about the events and surroundings of the time - which place the diarist, one common man, in the context of his world - we are given a fascinating picture of a vanished time, place and way of life.

Golden Light reveals the all-but-forgotten East Coast oyster trade in the last years of the 19th century and, as such, is of great value to historians. Beyond that, however, it is the portrait, indelible and poignant, of the final year in a young man's life. He embraces each day, its hard duties and simple pleasures, as though he had a future entire. Clearly, it was a life he loved. A century and a quarter later, it is a life and time we are privileged to see - bathed in the golden light of a younger, more innocent America.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the Introduction: Initially, my interest was simply that of an antiquarian, but as I became engrossed in the young captain's account, it became apparent that this tiny journal was unique. It was most uncommon for any active youth, relatively uneducated and exceedingly unsophisticated, to set down his daily activities so dutifully and thoroughly at sea and on shore. That it was written at all was a simple stroke of good fortune. In September of 1877, twenty-one year old Thomas became captain of the sloop, Golden Light. Undoubtedly excited and proud of his first command, the youth was moved to keep the journal. The result of his labor is a small, but impressive, socioeconomic document, not only of the eastern New Jersey shore, but of coastal communities everywhere and those thousands of people who wrested a marginal living from its land and waters - people whose lives illustrate the American condition with far greater accuracy than those of the educated and genteel inhabitants of the drawing rooms and the seats of governmental power. - James B. Kirk II

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Edition details

• Publisher: Down The Shore Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0945582854
• ISBN 13: 9780945582854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 317