Author Fredric B. Hill will present a discussion of local history and a reading from his latest book “A Flick of Sunshine” at the Patten Free Library on Saturday, May 7 at 2 p.m.

Hill has previously presented at the Patten Free Library, but has not been since before the pandemic. This talk will mark his return to in-person programming, and will focus mainly on the story of a shipwreck, survival in the latter days of the great three- and four-masted sailing ships, and Bath’s prominence in shipbuilding in the mid and later 19th century.

Will Jackson, a “Bath Boy” (as sailors from the city of ships were often known) was born at the beginning of the Civil war. He was the grandson of William Donnell Crooker, who, with his brother, led one of the most successful shipbuilding companies in the middle of the century before they ran into hard times, the panic of 1857, and fiscal challenges. Because of the decline of the shipyard, Jackson, Hill’s great-uncle, went to sea at age 21. He was the youngest, lowest paid, and last member of the crew and effectively saved all members of the (Sewall) ship Rainier when it wrecked on a reef in the Marshall Islands in Jan. 2, 1884 — only to get marooned there himself for several more months.

This program will be presented in the Community Room and live on Zoom. Books will be available for purchase at the event and at Mockingbird Bookshop. With support from Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc.

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