In the early 1700s the coast of Carolina seemed to be infested with pirates. The most famous of these was Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard. He sailed in and out the rivers and sounds of eastern North Carolina until finally trapped and killed near Ocracoke Island on November 22, 1718. Stede Bonnet was another pirate […]
Wreck of the Sea Venture 1609 Samuel Jordan was evidently the first Jordan to settle in English America. Some reports say that Samuel was born in Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, England, and his birth year is given as 1575 or 1578. Samuel is believed to have been on the ship Sea Venture that shipwrecked off Bermuda […]
White privilege is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-whites in some societies, even if these non-whites may otherwise enjoy the same social, political, or economic circumstances. It is thought to have its roots in European colonialism and the slave trade. Institutions, laws and practices developed, often subtle, that served to protect white […]
My son Stuart and my nephews Branch Fields, Jr, and Wallace Ware (Skip) Neblett all lost their spleens at an early age because of accidents. Stuart was almost five, and the other two were in their teens. I have always considered it somewhat miraculous that boys survive childhood. The spleen is located in the upper […]
A debate about Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been in the news recently. Some fear that teaching this theory is being pushed throughout the Federal government and the nation’s military services, and they fear its effect. Critical race theory asserts that white supremacy exists in America and its existence is maintained though the nation’s laws […]
River Walk This is a photo of a portion of the river walk in my old home town of Wilmington, North Carolina. That’s the Cape Fear River in the background, and it flows into the Atlantic about thirty miles south of this place. I lived in Carolina Beach, about fifteen miles south of town center.
Last week we remembered D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944, and the invasion of Nazi occupied France. It was right and proper for us to remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives on those bloody beaches. Belatedly, I take this opportunity to add my own thoughts about this epochal event. I was fourteen […]
In words attributed to Omar Kayyam, Persian mathematician and philosopher, “The moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on; nor all thy piety and wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.” In simpler words, “What’s done is done.” But we still like […]
I have always admired a fine ship, and I can think of few things so beautiful a great three masted clipper under full sail. As a young boy in the 1930s I was also enthralled by the sleek ocean liners plying the North Atlantic. The Queen Mary and the Normandie were immense vessels carrying passengers […]
Most of you are familiar with the Biblical creation story. Genesis 2 tells how after God had formed the world and placed man in the beautiful Garden of Eden, he said to himself, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him . . . . So, […]
