Whaling Captains of Color with Skip Finley

Join the Lane Memorial Library in partnership with the Hampton Historical Society, Portsmouth Public Library, Seabrook Library, and Kingston Community Library for a virtual event on Zoom with Skip Finley, author of Whaling Captains of Color: America's First Meritocracy.

The history of whaling as an industry on this continent has been well-told in books, including some that have been bestsellers, but what hasn’t been told is the story of whaling’s leaders of color in an era when the only other option was slavery. Whaling was one of the first American industries to exhibit diversity. A man became a captain not because he was white or well connected, but because he knew how to kill a whale. Along the way, he could learn navigation and reading and writing. Whaling presented a tantalizing alternative to mainland life.

 “The story of people of color in the whaling industry is a fascinating and hitherto unexplored subject enough, but Skip Finley’s brilliant survey of the black captains and crew of the New England whale fisheries takes it one step further. His swift and sure narrative is excitingly told, bringing a fresh and vibrant focus to a vital part of American, and indeed global, history.” — Philip Hoare, author of The Whale.

Skip Finley is a former broadcasting executive who was responsible for over 40 U.S. radio stations and experienced success in all areas of radio. Attempting retirement since age 50, he keeps returning to communications, currently in marketing at the Vineyard Gazette Media Group on Martha's Vineyard, where he summered since 1955, deciding to become a writer. For five years Finley wrote the weekly Oak Bluffs Town Column and is a contributor to several publications in the areas of whaling and history.

Skip has written articles for the Vineyard Gazette, Martha’s Vineyard Magazine, Island Weddings Magazine, the Provincetown Banner, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum publications, The Intelligencer and MVM Quarterly, Sea History Magazine, and Cape Cod & The Islands Magazine.

To order copies of this book please visit Finley’s website at skipfinley.com.

No registration required. Click here to connect on Zoom!