Bear of the Sea : Giant Jim Pattillo and the Roaring Years of the Gloucester-Nova Scotia Fishery

Rating:
Summary: Non-fiction doesn?t get more exciting than this!
Review: Anyone standing at the Fishermen's Memorial along Gloucester Harbor in Massachusetts will be struck by two things. First, visitors always gravitate to the names at the very end--the familiar names of Capt. Billy Tyne and his five crewmates from the Andrea Gail, lost in The Perfect Storm in 1991. But those who linger are always astonished by the fact that there are more than five thousand other names here--sometimes hundreds of them lost during a single year in the 1800's, often from the same families. This book brings those 19th century years to life, providing a lively glimpse of the Gloucester fishing industry during its height, and a fitting memorial to all those "who go down to the sea in ships."

Joseph Garland reveals this history through the tale of one man--Giant Jim Pattillo, probably the most colorful and independent captain ever to command a Gloucester fishing vessel. A Novie who became a "whitewashed Yankee" when he became a U.S. citizen, Pattillo sailed between Georges Bank, Nova Scotia, and Cape Ann, Massachusetts, during the glory years of 1820 - 1870. Huge in size, immensely strong, and willing to take on anyone when he'd had enough to drink, Pattillo was a brawler who feared nothing and no one, a man who was willing to break the rules and even smuggle when it suited his purpose. Defying storms and all manner of danger, he also defied the restrictions the Crown placed on fishing around Nova Scotia--along with all the Crown's officers and enforcers.

Owner and master of his first fishing vessel in 1820, when he was just fourteen, Pattillo later fished for halibut, mackerel, herring, and cod in pinkeys, smacks, barks, sharpshooters, and schooners, all sailing vessels operating without any supplementary power. Navigation was challenging, to say the least, especially during ferocious storms at night, and the long list of names on the Gloucester memorial attests to the difficulty of keeping these vessels intact during the terrible Atlantic winters. Communication was almost non-existent, and on one occasion, when Pattillo and his crew returned to Gloucester in May, the town was stunned--it had already mourned their deaths, thinking they, like dozens of others, had perished in February.

Garland's impeccably researched tale is a can't-put-it-downer which deserves much more publicity! It's not an exaggeration to say that the insights you gain here about fishing and fishermen will forever change your perceptions of this heroic profession. Through Jim Pattillo, whose career spanned fifty tumultuous years, Garland provides a comprehensive historical account of the Gloucester - Nova Scotia fishing fleet, giving a context to more modern stories, such as The Perfect Storm, often thought to be unique. As a result, these modern accounts may now rightly assume their place as part of Gloucester's centuries-old, seafaring history, their crews members of the more than 5300-man fraternity of those "who go down to the sea in ships."

Rating:
Summary: Non-fiction doesn¿t get more exciting than this!
Review: Anyone standing at the Fishermen's Memorial along Gloucester Harbor in Massachusetts will be struck by two things. First, visitors always gravitate to the names at the very end--the familiar names of Capt. Billy Tyne and his five crewmates from the Andrea Gail, lost in The Perfect Storm in 1991. But those who linger are always astonished by the fact that there are more than five thousand other names here--sometimes hundreds of them lost during a single year in the 1800's, often from the same families. This book brings those 19th century years to life, providing a lively glimpse of the Gloucester fishing industry during its height, and a fitting memorial to all those "who go down to the sea in ships."

Joseph Garland reveals this history through the tale of one man--Giant Jim Pattillo, probably the most colorful and independent captain ever to command a Gloucester fishing vessel. A Novie who became a "whitewashed Yankee" when he became a U.S. citizen, Pattillo sailed between Georges Bank, Nova Scotia, and Cape Ann, Massachusetts, during the glory years of 1820 - 1870. Huge in size, immensely strong, and willing to take on anyone when he'd had enough to drink, Pattillo was a brawler who feared nothing and no one, a man who was willing to break the rules and even smuggle when it suited his purpose. Defying storms and all manner of danger, he also defied the restrictions the Crown placed on fishing around Nova Scotia--along with all the Crown's officers and enforcers.

Owner and master of his first fishing vessel in 1820, when he was just fourteen, Pattillo later fished for halibut, mackerel, herring, and cod in pinkeys, smacks, barks, sharpshooters, and schooners, all sailing vessels operating without any supplementary power. Navigation was challenging, to say the least, especially during ferocious storms at night, and the long list of names on the Gloucester memorial attests to the difficulty of keeping these vessels intact during the terrible Atlantic winters. Communication was almost non-existent, and on one occasion, when Pattillo and his crew returned to Gloucester in May, the town was stunned--it had already mourned their deaths, thinking they, like dozens of others, had perished in February.

Garland's impeccably researched tale is a can't-put-it-downer which deserves much more publicity! It's not an exaggeration to say that the insights you gain here about fishing and fishermen will forever change your perceptions of this heroic profession. Through Jim Pattillo, whose career spanned fifty tumultuous years, Garland provides a comprehensive historical account of the Gloucester - Nova Scotia fishing fleet, giving a context to more modern stories, such as The Perfect Storm, often thought to be unique. As a result, these modern accounts may now rightly assume their place as part of Gloucester's centuries-old, seafaring history, their crews members of the more than 5300-man fraternity of those "who go down to the sea in ships."

Rating:
Summary: Fine view of a larger-than-life fisherman in the age of sail
Review: Bear of the Sea covers a lot of ground - fishing grounds off Nova Scotia and New England, legal grounds relative to smuggling and the patroling of national fishing grounds, grounds for justifiable homicide.... The book reads like a fable of a sea-going Paul Bunyon and is written so that you get the feeling you are right there with Pattillo in storm and calm, in bar room brawls and the management of a large fishing enterprise, all the while wondering "Was there really such a man?" Taking the word "fabulous" in both current meanings, this story fits the bill as a great read of a man larger than his time, larger than his native land. It is entertaining, accurate as to weather and place. You can almost smell the fish and feel the damp fog. Almost as gripping as Endurance or Sailing Alone Around the World, similar to Jack London's reports of his time on the Fish Patrol. Garland writes with a delightful sense of humor about the real-life Jim Pattillo from original sources. Well worth the price.