The Egan Maritime Institute is pleased to present Second Wind, An Evening with Nat Philbrick on Thursday, July 26. The lecture will take place at the Unitarian Church, 11 Orange Street. The doors will open at 6pm, and the lecture will begin at 6:30pm. Nat will be available for book-signing following his presentation.
“Egan Maritime is delighted to provide a fabulous summer evening on the island with our treasured local author Nat Philbrick, winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Maritime History for In the Heart of the Sea” remarked Pauline Proch, Egan Maritime’s Executive Director. “Nat was the first Executive Director of Egan Maritime, and Second Wind was originally produced under our publishing program Mill Hill Press in 1999. It has recently been reprinted with Penguin Random House, and will be available for purchase at the Unitarian Church before and after the July 26 lecture.”
In the spring of 1992, Nat Philbrick was in his late thirties, living with his family on Nantucket, feeling stranded and longing for that thrill of victory he once felt after winning a national sailing championship in his youth. Was it a midlife crisis? It was certainly a watershed for the journalist-turned-stay-at-home dad, who impulsively decided to throw his hat into the ring, or water, again. With the bemused approval of his wife, Melissa, and children, Philbrick used the off-season on the island as his solitary training ground, sailing his tiny Sunfish to its remotest corners, experiencing the haunting beauty of its tidal creeks, inlets, and wave-battered sandbars. On ponds, bays, rivers, and finally at the championship on a lake in the heartland of America, he sailed through storms and memories, racing for the prize, but finding something unexpected about himself instead. Second Wind recounts this season of Nat’s island life.
Preceding the evening lecture, a small reception will take place at the Hadwen House Garden, 96 Main Street. Patrons will join Philbrick for libations and conversation in the historic garden, and will have the opportunity to get their signed copy of Second Wind personalized by Philbrick. A copy of the book is included with each Reception Ticket, $125. Reserved lecture seating, including a copy of Second Wind, is $50; and General Admission is $25.
This program was generously sponsored by Nantucket Island Resorts.