Brilliant Beacons with Eric Jay Dolin — Aug. 26, 2020

Did you know that Salem has quite a long history with the water? Yup! This coming August you can learn about maritime lore, the evolution of America’s lighthouse systems and the battles fought to control the coastlines. Details of “Brilliant Beacons” are per Facebook.

“About the discussion

In a slide-illustrated talk rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin tells the story of America through the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels. Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons : A History of the American Lighthouse traces the evolution of America’s lighthouse system, highlighting the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation’s hardscrabble coastlines. Dolin covers a memorable cast of characters including scientists, soldiers, and government officials, but most importantly the male and female keepers who kept America’s lighthouses burning. Brilliant Beacons is the most original history of American lighthouses in many decades.

About Eric Jay Dolin

Eric Jay Dolin is the author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, which was chosen as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Providence Journal, and also won the 2007 John Lyman Award for U.S. Maritime History; and Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America, which was chosen by the Seattle Times as one of the best nonfiction books of 2010, and also won the James P. Hanlan Book Award, given by the New England Historical Association. He is also the author of When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail, which was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of 2012; and Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse, which was chosen by Captain and Classic Boat as one of the best nautical books of 2016, and was selected as a “Must-Read” book for 2017 by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. His last book before A Furious Sky is Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates, which was chosen as a “Must-Read” book for 2019, and was a finalist for the 2019 Julia Ward Howe Award given by the Boston Author’s Club. His forthcoming book is A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes, which publishes on June 9, 2020. A graduate of Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his PhD in environmental policy, Dolin lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his family. For more information on his background, books, and awards, please visit his website, www.ericjaydolin.com. You can also follow Dolin’s posts on Facebook on his professional page, @ericjaydolin, or on Twitter, @EricJayDolin.”

This event takes place on August 26, 2020 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the NPS Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty St. Salem, MA 01970. Tickets are available here. Enjoy!! <3

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