The Stephen
B. Luce Library invites you to a guest lecture on…
The Improbable Quest to Save the Corals
of Puerto Rico
Islands Under Fire
With Author & Filmmaker Kevin
McCarey, Class of ‘67
On Thursday, March 21, 2013 @ 1500,
Stephen B. Luce Library
Library Lecture Series: Navigate Your
Course @Your Library
A
portrait of an often overlooked part of America—Puerto Rico and the Spanish
Virgin Islands—this is the little-known story of how the U.S. government, in
particular the Navy, almost destroyed a pristine coral reef to provide a target
for gunners. The author’s true, and humorous, account of his role in the
sometimes bizarre tale reveals how locals, politicos, and mariners came
together to save a coral reef from certain destruction, and how the need to
protect the fragile marine environment can bring meaning and direction to
anyone’s life, young or old.
“In every phase of this fast moving, inspiring story,
McCarey gleans his life's most essential moments, both hurtful and hilarious,
nourishing himself for his next improbable adventure. Islands Under Fire is a
new kind of narrative: part “Liar’s Club” and part “Lonely Planet”, bundled
into one terrific book.”
David Hamlin, executive producer, National Geographic Television
David Hamlin, executive producer, National Geographic Television
"This memoir, part travelogue
and part natural history, is rich with humor, misadventure, and triumph.
McCarey's writing is a pleasure, his penchant for simile and skill with dialogue
particular delights. . . . [This] is an engrossing and joyful trip." —Publishers
Weekly,
For more information:
About the Author
Kevin McCarey is an Emmy Award
winning filmmaker whose films have been shown on the National Geographic
Channel, PBS, NBC and the Turner Networks. He is also a published author
and aspiring playwright. Raised in New York's Hudson Valley, Kevin
McCarey attended SUNY Maritime College, graduating with a BS in Marine Science
and a merchant marine deck officer's license. During the Vietnam War, he served
as Third Officer aboard merchant ships carrying "booze and bombs" to
the war zone. Later, McCarey took a job as boat captain of a research vessel in
Puerto Rico. There he took part in the efforts to stop the bombing of Culebra,
an adventure documented in his book, Islands
Under Fire: the Improbable Quest to Save the Corals of Puerto Rico.
This led to work as an oceanographer on a variety of expeditions from the North
Atlantic to the South Pacific.
On
returning to SUNY Maritime….
“I really look forward to
it. I haven’t been back to the Fort since our class reunion in the
‘90s. But this time, I’ll have the opportunity to meet the new generation
of Domers. They have so many wonderful career options today – and yet so
many difficult challenges ahead. I wish I could live long enough to read
their books.” (Kevin McCarey’s interview in
the Fort Schuyler Mariner, Fall 2012 issue)
For more information :
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