The building of a wooden ship in 1870 becomes a New England vision of purpose, skill and strength. This intimate and detailed book begins with the need for a new whaling vessel, follows its design and lofting, and moves in time with the massively powerful interlocking structure of the hull with the adroit workmen who deftly ply their trades in succession: sawyers cutting hackmatack knees, adzmen shaping double-sawn ribs, dubbers and plankers bonding the white oak planks to the skeleton with trunnels, the work of caulkers, joiners, and riggers.
Jan Adkins was raised in West Virginia and Ohio, around Wheeling. He spent a lot of time wandering the woods around his home with a .22. He was at Ohio State University for many years studying architecture, first, then literature. He worked as a draftsman for one of Eero Saarinen's senior designers, W. Byron Ireland. Married, he moved to his wife's wonderful hometown of Wareham, Massachusetts, which is still home for him. Many of his books are set in New England waters where he sailed up and down the coast with his family.
He has three children: Sally lives with her husband Patrick in Gainesville, Florida, with grandsons Max and Luc; Sam is a chef in DC with his lovely partner Aphra; Web and his Cyn live in Seattle with grandchildren Alder and River.
He moved to Washington, DC, to be an art director for National Geographic Magazine for almost nine years, living in DC and then in Annapolis. He's written for Smithsonian Magazine, Cricket and Muse Magazines, Harper's, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, WoodenBoat, Maine Boats Homes & Harbors and others. He also works on museum exhibits with Eisterhold Associates out of Kansas City.
For several years he taught editorial illustration, history of illustration, and graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design and at Maryland Institute, College of Art. He misses teaching.
He writes books of non-fiction for young people, his special audience. He also writes humor and feature articles for several magazines. He has illustrated for all his books and for dozens of mainstream magazines, especially on marine and technical subjects.
He lives presently in Novato, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he hikes, cooks, sails, skis, plays tennis, and writes every day.
