Anthony J. Marolda

The sea and the history of our country have always been parts of my life and were the basis for many of my writings. Given my environment and life experiences, it was natural for me to write historical, maritime adventure novels.

I was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, within sight of the sea. One of my earliest memories was the smell of the salt air. As I was growing up, my parents took me to most of the historic sites in the Boston area, so I acquired an appreciation for the texture provided by historical context.

Now I live in Annisquam, a small, historic village on Cape Ann Massachusetts. I look out my window and I can see the long rollers moving across Ipswich Bay, having been created in some distant storm off to the north.

For over forty years, I have owned sailboats. All of them have been moored in Lobster Cove, a short walk from my house. The Pilgrims settled Annisquam in 1631. They had sent a group of men up the coast to spend the summers fishing. The pioneers found that Lobster Cove was a perfect, natural harbor where their fragile boats would be safe from the occasional Nor'easter. They built drying racks along the edge of the cove to preserve the fish. When the men returned to Plymouth in the fall, their catch helped to sustain the Colony through another winter.

With my interest in sailing, and thirty-five years of sailing experience, I decided a number of years ago to take the Coast Guard exams for a Master's License. It took about six months to complete the various courses and take the exams, and I received the license with a sailing endorsement.

My first three novels are historical maritime adventures set during wartime. They represent a trilogy that follows different generations of the fictitious Langsford family of Annisquam. They all made their livings from the sea. But, when the country was faced with a perilous situation, some of them went to war. My first novel, "The Raid on H.M.S. Vindicator", was set during the Revolutionary War. The second, "Purgatory Island", took place during the Civil War. And, finally, "Operation Blinding Light" is a World War II action, adventure yarn.

One of my greatest pleasures in writing these tales was doing the research to make the historical verisimilitude as accurate as possible. I have been told by readers that this was a feature of the stories that they found to be most enjoyable.

Because of other parts of my background, I have also authored many science-based articles for the Gloucester Daily Times. I have degrees in physics and worked for several years on R&D for particle accelerator technology. Then I received an MBA from Harvard University and became a management consultant in corporate strategies for technology-based companies.

The subjects of the newspaper articles were Intelligence: human, animal, artificial and extraterrestrial. This became the theme of my latest book, "The Intelligent Cosmos".