July 14, 2020, by admin

Re-release of Fisherman 28 Celebrates an Alaska Maritime Classic

The Sitka Sound Science Center is pleased to announce the republishing of Jack Calvin’s Fisherman 28. The young adult novel, first published by Little and Brown in 1930, is a classic maritime tale of a young man’s experience fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The book is the sequel to Square Rigged which was re-released two years ago.
After an epic voyage from San Francisco to Nushagak Bay, Alaska on one of the last square-rigged ships of the era, greenhorn Bert Lindsay (aka Fisherman 28) embarks on a summer of salmon fishing for his father’s business. He sails with his old salt of a fishing partner to catch as many fish as possible and, along the way, learns life lessons about hard work and people.
With a cast of colorful characters and adept skill at suspense and intrigue, Jack Calvin masterfully crafts a timeless story that plays itself out against a backdrop of Alaska fishing culture and natural beauty. Fisherman 28 is based loosely on Calvin’s own experience as a young man in Bristol Bay.
Long out of print from its original publication from the New York-based publishing house, Calvin’s yarn takes its place among classic seafaring literature.
Jack Calvin moved to Alaska in 1929 with his wife Sasha Kashaveroff. The couple paddled to Southeast Alaska from Tacoma in an open canoe, a journey captured by a National Geographic article published in 1933. The Calvins made their home in Sitka where they were part of the community, helping to establish the Sitka Conservation Society and establishing the first grass roots, federally designated wilderness areas in the nation. Calvin was also co-author with Ed Rickets of the seminal textbook Between Pacific Tides which grouped intertidal organisms by community and ecology. Many current marine scientists think of Ricketts and Calvin as the grandfathers of modern marine ecology.
Fisherman 28 and Square-Rigged were both republished by the Sitka Sound Science Center to celebrate Sitka’s important chapter in the History of Science and remember an author that captured the spirit and culture of west coast tall ship sailing and fishing at the turn of the last century. Click here to purchase Fisherman 28.