Linda Greenlaw is a best-selling author of books with maritime themes and the
only female swordfishing boat captain on the East Coast of the United States. She
was featured in the 1997 book The Perfect Storm and the 2000 film
adaptation. Linda Greenlaw now captains the boat Hannah Boden on the Discovery
Channel show Swords: Life on the Line. She previously captained Seahawk after
the previous captain died on board. Greenlaw wrote three best-selling books
about life as a commercial fisher: The Hungry Ocean in 1999, The Lobster
Chronicles in 2002 and All Fishermen Are Liars in 2002.
Her books have climbed as high as No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list,
with The Hungry Ocean remaining on the list for three months.
Greenlaw lives on Isle au Haut, Maine, and was the first female sword-fishing
boat captain on the American East Coast. Early years
Greenlaw was born in Connecticut, the daughter of Jim and Martha Greenlaw. Her
father was an information systems manager for Bath Iron Works. She was
raised in Topsham, Maine, and her family spent their summers in Isle au Haut, a
village of 70 people off the coast of Maine. Greenlaw attended Colby College,
where she majored in both English and government. To help pay her way through
college, Linda worked as a cook and deckhand aboard the sword-fishing boat
Walter Leeman during her summers. She continued working on the boat during
free time and vacations and, after her graduation in 1983, continued working
for the boat's owner, Alden Leeman, who installed Greenlaw as a swordfish
captain in 1986 when he acquired a second vessel.
Greenlaw wrote in The Hungry Ocean: "Being a woman hasn't been a big deal. I
never anticipated problems stemming from being female, and never encountered any.
I have been surprised, even embarrassed, by the number of people who are
genuinely amazed that a woman might be capable of running a fishing boat."
Commercial fisherman Greenlaw was the captain of the Hannah
Boden in October 1991 when Andrea Gail sank in the Atlantic in the 1991 Perfect
Storm. Greenlaw's efforts to warn the Andrea Gail about the impending storm
were portrayed in Sebastian Junger's 1997 book The Perfect Storm and in the
movie version, in which she was played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Junger
called Greenlaw not just the only female swordfishing captain, but "one of the
best captains, period, on the entire East Coast."
In 1997, Greenlaw settled in Isle au Haut, and bought a lobster boat, the
35-foot Mattie Belle. On May 28, 2009, Greenlaw was convicted
of illegally entering and illegally fishing in Canadian waters by the
Newfoundland Provincial Court. The Crown asked for a fine of CAD$53,000, while
the defense recommended a fine of half that amount. She was fined $38,000 after
the judge found she did not use "due diligence".
Writer Greenlaw's first book, The Hungry Ocean,
described a one-month swordfishing voyage, entailing, "among other things,
treacherous weather, uncooperative fish, wildly entertaining shipmates, and the
exhausting, mind-bending pressure of ten consecutive 21-hour days." Subsequent
books include The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island, All
Fishermen Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar, Seaworthy: A Swordboat
Captain Returns to the Sea, and Lifesaving Lessons: Notes from an
Accidental Mother. Greenlaw has co-authored two cookbooks with her
mother, Martha Greenlaw, and published two novels of detective fiction—Slipknot
and Fisherman's Bend—featuring her fictional detective Jane Bunker.
Awards Greenlaw was the winner of the American
Library Association's Alex Award in 2000, United States Maritime Literature
Award in 2003, and the New England Book Award for nonfiction in 2004.
Bibliography = Cookbooks=
Greenlaw, Linda; Greenlaw, Martha. Recipes from a Very Small Island.
Hyperion. ISBN 1401300731. Greenlaw, Linda; Greenlaw, Martha. The
Maine Summers Cookbook: Recipes for Delicious, Sun-Filled Days. Studio. ISBN
0670022853. = Maritime=
Greenlaw, Linda. The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey. Hyperion.
ISBN 0786885416. Greenlaw, Linda. The Lobster Chronicles:
Life on a Very Small Island. Hyperion. ISBN 0786885912.
Greenlaw, Linda. All Fishermen Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar.
Hyperion. ISBN 0786888784. Greenlaw, Linda. Seaworthy: A Swordboat
Captain Returns to the Sea. Viking Adult. ISBN 067002192X.
= Memoir= Greenlaw, Linda. Lifesaving Lessons:
Notes from an Accidental Mother. Viking Adult. ISBN 0670025178.
= Mystery= Greenlaw, Linda. Slipknot. Jane Bunker
Mystery #1. Hyperion. ISBN 0786866780. Greenlaw, Linda. Fisherman's Bend. Jane
Bunker Mystery #2. Hyperion. ISBN 1401322352.
References External links
Profile in Bookreporter.com Linda Greenlaw website
Reading by Linda Greenlaw in Portland, Maine, courtesy of the Maine Humanities
Council Appearances on C-SPAN
Booknotes interview with Greenlaw on The Lobster Chronicles: Life On a Very Small
Island, October 13, 2002.