BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//sebbo.net//ical-generator//EN NAME:Wilbraham Public Library X-WR-CALNAME:Wilbraham Public Library BEGIN:VEVENT UID:8b1e5226-c769-416d-94bd-a124d52c9094 SEQUENCE:0 DTSTAMP:20260803T064726Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250324T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250324T200000 SUMMARY:History Book Club LOCATION:Wilbraham Public Library\nWilbraham Public Library X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Wilbraham Public Library;X -APPLE-RADIUS=10;X-TITLE=Wilbraham Public Library:geo:42.1218516,-72.42861 87 GEO:42.1218516;-72.4286187 DESCRIPTION:Monthly meeting on the fourth Monday of the month. Books are a vailable to pick up at the Service Desk\; new comers are always welcome..\ nhttps://wilbraham.libnet.info/event/12312239 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

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Graveyard \;of \;the&nbs p\;Pacific \;: shipwreck and survival on America's deadliest waterway by Randall Sullivan

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A vivid portra it of the Columbia River Bar that combines maritime history\, adventure jo urnalism\, and memoir\, bringing alive the history&mdash\;and present&mdas h\;of one of the most notorious stretches of water in the world.

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O ff the coast of Oregon\, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean a nd forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadl y that it&rsquo\;s nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific.

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Two tho usand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dar ed to try to cross it in the late 18thcentury. For decades ships continued to make the bar crossing with great peril\, first with native guides and later with opportunistic newcomers\, as Europeans settled in Washington an d Oregon\, displacing the natives and transforming the river into the hub of a booming region. Since then\, the commercial importance of the Columbi a River has only grown\, and despite the construction of jetties on either side\, the bar remains treacherous\, even today a site of shipwrecks and dramatic rescues as well as power struggles between small fishermen\, powe rful shipowners\, local communities in Washington and Oregon\, the Coast G uard\, and the Columbia River Bar Pilots &ndash\; a small group of highly skilled navigators who help guide ships through the mouth of the Columbia.

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When Randall Sullivan and a friend set out to cross the bar in a two-man kayak\, they&rsquo\;re met with skepticism and concern. But on a c lear day in July 2021\, when the tides and weather seem right\, they embar k. As they plunge through the currents that have taken so many lives\, Ran dall commemorates the brave sailors that made the crossing before him &nda sh\; including his own abusive father\, a sailor himself who also once dar ed to cross the bar &ndash\; and reflects on toxic masculinity\, fatherhoo d\, and what drives men to extremes.

\nhttps://wilbraham.libnet.info/ev ent/12312239 URL;VALUE=URI:https://wilbraham.libnet.info/event/12312239 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/wilbraham/adult_history_bo ok_club.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR