Book Talk with Paul Magid: Pursuing the Leviathan

On Thursday, September 4th, at 4:30pm, the West Tisbury Library will host local author Paul Magid for a talk about his new book, Pursuing the Leviathan: The Heroic Life of New England Whaling Captain Benjamin Clough. This event is free and open to the public. 

About the book:

“Set in the golden age of whaling in the nineteenth century, this book brings to life the adventures of Benjamin Clough, best known for single-handedly rescuing the ship Sharon from mutineers in 1842. Clough’s heroism earned him a whaling command, which led to a whaling career that for a quarter-century took him into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans.”

“An exciting story of mutiny and murder, well told by a meticulous researcher.”—Joan Druett, author of Island of the Lost

“Few people understand the difficulty in finding information on the importance of whaling and then producing it in such an interesting book. Pursuit of the Leviathan, is a unique tale that reads like a novel about Benjamin Clough’s life and his single handedly saving of the whaleship Sharon, beset by a rare mutiny.”—Skip Finley, author of Whaling Captains of Color

About the author:

Paul Magid, an attorney, military veteran, and former Peace Corps volunteer, has devoted himself to research and writing since his retirement in 1999. After earning a master’s degree in writing from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, he began working on the first of a three-volume biography of Maj. Gen. George Crook, a Corps commander in the Civil War and an important military leader during the Indian Wars. His first book on Crook won the Western Writers of America Spur award for best biography of a Western figure, while the other two were finalists for the same award. Magid and his wife reside on Martha’s Vineyard.