On Shore with Linda Greenlaw

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Linda Greenlaw. Currently, she is best known for her part in the Discovery Channel series Swords – Life of the Line. In the past she was also well know for being captain of the Hannah Boden, sister ship to the Andrea Gail which was lost in what has become known as The Perfect Storm.

Linda’s latest book, Seaworthy, is a recounting of her return to deep-water fishing after a ten year absence. Still holding the distinction of being the only female swordfish boat captain in America, Greenlaw shows that anything she lost in the last ten years because of age, she has more than made up for in experience. Her writing style matches her personality: straight forward, conversational and matter of fact. Sometimes you have to look up from the page to remind yourself that you are not sitting on a bar stool next to her.

In person Linda was easy going and easy to relate to. I found myself getting lost in her talk and the Q&A session was filled with great information and showed just how good she is at dealing with people, even the difficult ones. I love her no nonsense style. When asked about the trip chronicled in Seaworthy she said, “Was this trip a bust, yes. But I’ve been in the business long enough to know that some trips are like that.” Greenlaw was obviously un-phased by the financial calamity and went on to say that she is looking forward to getting back out on the water again. Her matter-of-fact reasoning is clear when the subject of her arrest for fishing in Canadian waters, which is covered in Seaworthy, came up. Her response was simply, “I was there and I was fishing.”  One very telling question asked by an attendee was, “Have you ever felt any pressure from you publisher to neutralize gender specific terms?” “No.” was the answer, “I’m a fisherman. That’s what I do.” She is the kind of person I would love to work for, just maybe not on a sword-boat.

Greenlaw splits her time between writing and fishing. I am looking forward to the next season of Swords – Life on the Line and delving into her first foray into fiction, Slipknot. She is someone I look up to a great deal. She has had more success as a writer than I can hope for and is more man than I’ll ever be.