This event has been rescheduled for the March 28. All registrations will be honored for the new date.

Author Tom Verde will visit the library on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:00 PM to talk about his book: In a Class All Their Own: Unique and Historic Boats of New England. The talk will be followed by Q&A. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

This presentation will include a brief overview of New England boating history (including yachting in Newport), a snapshot look at the various categories of boats featured in the book, and more in-depth explorations of the histories of a couple of particular boats, telling their stories through pictures and video clips.

Each boat has a story to tell and this book features nearly forty profiles of classic/unique boats, drawn from articles written for the Westerly Sun newspaper during the summers of 2014 and 2015. Explore not only the histories of the individual vessels, but of their classes and designers, as well as their relationships to the environs in which they sailed, raced, cruised and, in some case, still operate as working vessels. These stories include the fabled history of the cat boat; the first fiberglass sailing yacht; a NY ferry boat repurposed as a houseboat; the oldest working fishing boat in Stonington, CT; racing rivalries in the Sound; the French love affair with American boat designs; and the Jazz Age era of luxury yachting, among others.
 
Please register below.  This event will be held in the Friends Program room on the lower level.

Tom Verde is a freelance journalist who writes for the New York Times, National Public Radio, AramcoWorld magazine, the New London Day, and the Westerly Sun. On his first solo sail, on the Charles River in Boston, he ran aground, collided with the Longfellow Bridge, and generally enjoyed himself. He lives in Pawcatuck, Connecticut.