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Bump's World - July 2010
July 14, 2010
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
Eight years ago I got a call from Ben Sherwood. Ben said he was writing a book that takes place in Marblehead and has a lot of sailing in it. Ben has a lot of writing experience; he had just finished a book called The Man Who Ate The 747. That book sounded a little strange to me, so I went out and bought it and read it. The book was really good. Ben's writing style is easy to read and very entertaining. The Man Who Ate The 747 made the New York Times best selling list.
Ben asked if we could meet and discuss his new book. We had lunch here in Manchester and Ben convinced me to read the book and focus on the sailing sections and then we would meet again and see if I had any suggestions. Ben had very limited sailing experience. I suggested a sail on "Loonatic" Tom Drechsler and my Aerodyne 38. The suggestion turned into an invitation to do the next Wednesday Night Race. So Wednesday night Ben showed up. It was a beautiful summer evening with about 12 knots of breeze. You could not paint a better picture. I got a good start and the Loonatic took off and like she often did we won easily. We went back to the Boston yacht Club for hamburgers, beers, and stories. Ben was grinning ear to ear and said he had the time of his life.
I read the book and focused on the sailing sections. I told Ben the book was great however the sailing was all wrong and the language was all wrong. We call it the bow not the front of the boat. Ben agreed and we went through each sentence turning his language into sailing language. Ben suggested the boat in the story be an Aerodyne 38 since now he was familiar with that boat and the Aerodyne fit right into the story line.
After several rewrites Ben got the story and language he wanted. I was satisfied that even a hard-core sailor would find the events realistic and the language fitting. A lot of people in Marblehead will read this book so Ben really wanted to get it right.
The book was published and Ben was gracious to give me credit for my part and to thank me for his only yacht race. The book sold extremely well and Ben got great reviews. My mother called me to say I was on Good Morning America. I was not but Ben was and he took the time to thank me on national TV.
Soon after this Ben, who had stayed in contact, e-mailed me to say his book was being considered as a movie. I e-mailed back and to say congratulations this is really exciting. Ben called again saying he thought the movie should be filmed in Marblehead and would I be available as a consultant for the sailing scenes. I thought boy this is really exciting, me helping to make a movie, wow.
Sadly that part did not work out. Due to expenses the movie was made in Vancouver, Canada not Marblehead.
The movie will be on the big screen on July 30th. I am totally excited to see how the movie came out. I hope it is true to the book.
Please read the book and check out the movie.
Bump's World - July 2010
July 14, 2010
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
Eight years ago I got a call from Ben Sherwood. Ben said he was writing a book that takes place in Marblehead and has a lot of sailing in it. Ben has a lot of writing experience; he had just finished a book called The Man Who Ate The 747. That book sounded a little strange to me, so I went out and bought it and read it. The book was really good. Ben's writing style is easy to read and very entertaining. The Man Who Ate The 747 made the New York Times best selling list.
Ben asked if we could meet and discuss his new book. We had lunch here in Manchester and Ben convinced me to read the book and focus on the sailing sections and then we would meet again and see if I had any suggestions. Ben had very limited sailing experience. I suggested a sail on "Loonatic" Tom Drechsler and my Aerodyne 38. The suggestion turned into an invitation to do the next Wednesday Night Race. So Wednesday night Ben showed up. It was a beautiful summer evening with about 12 knots of breeze. You could not paint a better picture. I got a good start and the Loonatic took off and like she often did we won easily. We went back to the Boston yacht Club for hamburgers, beers, and stories. Ben was grinning ear to ear and said he had the time of his life.
I read the book and focused on the sailing sections. I told Ben the book was great however the sailing was all wrong and the language was all wrong. We call it the bow not the front of the boat. Ben agreed and we went through each sentence turning his language into sailing language. Ben suggested the boat in the story be an Aerodyne 38 since now he was familiar with that boat and the Aerodyne fit right into the story line.
After several rewrites Ben got the story and language he wanted. I was satisfied that even a hard-core sailor would find the events realistic and the language fitting. A lot of people in Marblehead will read this book so Ben really wanted to get it right.
The book was published and Ben was gracious to give me credit for my part and to thank me for his only yacht race. The book sold extremely well and Ben got great reviews. My mother called me to say I was on Good Morning America. I was not but Ben was and he took the time to thank me on national TV.
Soon after this Ben, who had stayed in contact, e-mailed me to say his book was being considered as a movie. I e-mailed back and to say congratulations this is really exciting. Ben called again saying he thought the movie should be filmed in Marblehead and would I be available as a consultant for the sailing scenes. I thought boy this is really exciting, me helping to make a movie, wow.
Sadly that part did not work out. Due to expenses the movie was made in Vancouver, Canada not Marblehead.
The movie will be on the big screen on July 30th. I am totally excited to see how the movie came out. I hope it is true to the book.
Please read the book and check out the movie.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox