A NOTE ON SOURCES

THE SETTINGS IN THIS STORY ARE REAL, AND I AM grateful to many good folks in Marblehead, Massachusetts, for welcoming me to their town. Special thanks to F. Emerson Welch of the Reporter for fielding questions with Fraffian wit and cheer from dawn to dusk; Bump Wilcox of New Wave Yachts for steering a landlubber through imaginary Force 10 storms and the crew of Loonatic for a bruising victory in the Wednesday night races; and Kristen Heissenbuttel at Doyle Sailmakers for revealing the art and science of sail design. Appreciation also goes to Harbormaster Warner Hazell and his deputies; Bette Hunt and the Marblehead Historical Society; Commodore B. B. Crowninshield of the CBYC and Lynn Marine Supply; the firefighters of Engine 2 on Franklin Street; Ed Cataldo of Engine 5 in Revere; Todd Basch and Carol Wales of Doyle Sails; Marjorie Slattery-Sumner; Sheila Duncan (the original Woman Who Listens); Sally and Roger Plauche of Spray Cliff on the Ocean; Ruth and Skip Sigler of the Seagull Inn; Suzanne and Peter Conway of the Harbor Light Inn; and the regulars at the Barnacle, Driftwood, Landing, Maddie's, and Rip Tide. At the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston and Gloucester, a salute to Chief Petty Officers Steven Carriere, Tim Hudson, and Paul Wells, and Petty Officer Jared Coon for explaining search and rescue operations. At the Beverly Hills Fire Department, thanks to former Deputy Chief Mike Smollen for help with Hurst tools and Zoll defibrillators.

The bulk of this book unfolds in Waterside Cemetery, where Headers will recognize I took liberties with the landscape. Many thanks go to Superintendent Bill James and his longtime predecessor Ben Woodfin. For the most unusual week of work and research in my life, I am indebted to John Toale Jr., Steven Sloane, Don Williams, and Susan Olsen of historic Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York. Without hesitation, they sent me out to mow lawns and carry caskets on their 400 acres. I thank the foremen, union shop stewards, and workers for always giving me a hand and going easy when my back was breaking. A special tip of my blue Woodlawn cap to grave diggers Bob Blackmore, Greg Link, and Ray Vicens for sharing the finer points of their craft and the daily gratuities. Appreciation also goes to Ken Taylor of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, for insights based on more than thirty-five years of working and living with the dead.

For illuminating the afterlife, I offer gratitude to the incomparable Rosemary Altea, spirit medium and friend. Her bestselling books, including The Eagle and the Rose and Proud Spirit, are marvels of insight and meaning. Along the way I learned much from many other works, including Peter Canning's

Rescue 471; Linda Greenlaw's The Hungry Ocean and Lobster Chronicles; Thomas Lynch's The Undertaking; Sherwin B. Nuland's How We Die; Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's On Death and Dying; John Rousmaniere's Fastnet, Force 10; and Studs Terkel's Will the Circle Be Unbroken? On the Internet, I turned often to the Marblehead Reporter; Marblehead Magazine; Griefnet; Beyond Indigo; and City of the Silent, the remarkable cemetery website. For Sam and Charlie's wordplay, I drew on The Washington Post's "Style Invitational" of May 1998 asking readers to redefine words from the dictionary. For Florio's reflections on Ecclesiastes, I was inspired by Yehuda Amichai's poem, "A Man in His Life."

For a photo tour of the settings in this story and more information on sources, please visit www.bensherwood.com.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 866