What I'm Reading Right Now: The Sea Captain's Wife

The Sea Captain's Wife by Martha Hodes is the amazing true story of Eunice Stone Connolly whose nineteenth-century life has been carefully pieced together by the author from Eunice's letters to (and from) her family. Thankfully the majority of this incredible trove of letters has survived, because this book is a true window into the past, and I simply can't put it down.

The Sea Captain's Wife is of particular interest to me because it is a cache of correspondence like this one on which I based my college thesis--a man named Myron Adams, Hamilton College Class of 1863--whom enlisted in the Union army and wrote home twice, sometimes three times a day. by reading these letters I was able to know him and live vicariously through his idealistic early days as an enlisted young man, terrifying times in battle, and the anti-climactic end of his life when, after he was wounded and discharged, Mr. Adams became a Presbyterian minister. Once he was home with his family, however, the letters stopped, the details lost to the ages. Important details of Eunice's life are absent as well. Either because letters were lost or destroyed or simply because when she moved in with her mother for a spell she didn't have to write to her. So there you are, going along, following the ups and downs of her life only to find that big chunks of the puzzle are missing, and your fly-on-the-wall ability suddenly disappears.

Surviving pen-to-paper materials are also the basis of the I show co-produce in New York called Mortified. (shameless plug alert ahead) Created by Dave Nadelberg, Mortified showcases real people who read from their real teen artifacts in front of total strangers. Mortified as a concept is nothing without these vestiges of the past--old letters, journals, poems, notes, diaries, song lyrics, school assignments--the intent being to provide a theatrical experience that is equal parts comedic, cathartic and creepily voyeuristic. What happens when people don't record their angst on paper anymore? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the cellphones, text, e-mail, and weblogs (obviously), but what have we lost in terms of preserving the past without the old-fashioned way of communicating? OMG! WTF! TMTH? Only time will tell.

Anyway, if you're in the New York area, come see me in Mortified on Monday, April 7 at 8 pm. In addition to myself, we've got a bunch of brave souls ready mortify themselves in front of you with their embarrassing stuff. Tickets are available at http://www.comixny.com/. Reservations highly recommended!

And if you're at all interested in American history (and in my opinion if you're not, you should be) get yourself to a library or book store and read The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Love, Race, and War in the Nineteenth Century by Martha Hodes. I'm 30 pages from the end and sad about it.