"Dutton has set down the little, everyday events that give history its life and texture."
Life on the Great Lakes
A Wheelsman’s Story
By Fred W. Dutton
Edited by William Donohue Ellis
Cloth - 9780814322604
Paper - 9780814322611
Price: $22.95L
Published 1991
Pages: 176
Subjects: Regional Studies: Maritime History
Series: Great Lakes Books Series
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Description
Fred Dutton's story tells of the time before the gyro when ships were steered by magnetic compass and men had to estimate the degree of error in navigational calculations. Dutton recounts the terror of ships meeting and passing in the fog and the subtleties of handling ships at the docks. Serving under many captains on a dozen and a half vessels, he spices his account with profiles of ships' officers and crew and with details of deckhand work.
Published by Wayne State University Press
Reviews
"Reads as if it was written on the decks and in the wheelhouse . . . [Dutton's] I-was-there stories of first-day jitters, shipboard hazards and shipmates' follies are a refreshing departure from the usual fare. While most histories romanticize big events as seen from a distance, Dutton has set down the little, everyday events that give history its life and texture."
— Detroit Free Press