Authors of Captain ‘Hell Roaring’ Mike Healy: From American Slave to Arctic Hero Featured at Navy Memorial

Dennis Noble and Truman Strobridge will Discuss and Sign Their New Book Followed by a Q&A

Thursday, October 22, 2009, 12:00 NOON
Free and open to the public

Part of the Navy Memorial’s “Authors on Deck” Series of Navy-related Book Lectures. Dennis Noble and Truman Strobridge will present their new book, Captain ‘Hell Roaring’ Mike Healy, followed by Q&A and book signing.

Captain ‘Hell Roaring’ Mike Healy: From American Slave to Arctic Hero, a new publication from the University of Florida Press, examines the life of controversial mariner Mike Healy. In the late 1880s, many lives in Alaska rested in the capable hands of Michael A. Healy (1839-1904), of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of the modern Coast Guard. Healy arrested lawbreakers, put down mutinies, fought smugglers, rescued shipwrecked sailors, brought medical aid to isolated villagers, protected marine wildlife, and explored unknown waters and lands.

Healy’s dramatic feats in the far north were so widely reported that a New York newspaper once declared him “the most famous man in America.” But Healy hid a secret that contributed to his legacy as a lonely, tragic figure. In 1896, Healy was removed from command following a controversial court marital conviction. Healy returned to command of revenue cutters in Alaskan waters before his death in 1904. Sixty-seven years later, in 1971, the U.S. Coast Guard learned that Healy had been born a slave in Georgia, ran away to sea at age fifteen and spent the rest of his life passing for white. This is the rare biography that encompasses both sea adventure and the height of human achievement against all odds.

Dennis L. Noble, Ph.D., retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as a senior chief marine science technician and is the author of numerous books and articles on the service’s history. Truman R. Strobridge held many positions in the federal government including those of command historian of the joint-service Alaska Command and U.S. Army, Alaska. He has authored two books with Noble.