SIGNED HARD COVER:

29185a. Tougias, Michael J and Casey Sherman. The Finest Hours – The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue. Scribner. 2009. 204p. DJ. First Scribner hard-cover edition. Signed by co-author Casey Sherman.  In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril. In the early hours of Monday, February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, found themselves in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic’s mercy. The Finest Hours is the gripping, true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships. Coast Guard cutters raced to the aid of those on the Fort Mercer, and when it became apparent that the halves of the Pendleton were in danger of capsizing, the Coast Guard sent out two thirty-six-foot lifeboats as well. These wooden boats, manned by only four seamen each, were dwarfed by the enormous seventy-foot seas. As the tiny rescue vessels set out from the coast of Cape Cod , the men aboard were all fully aware that they were embarking on what could easily become a suicide mission. The spellbinding tale is overflowing with breathtaking scenes that sear themselves into the mind’s eye, as boats capsize, bows and sterns crash into one another, and men hurl themselves into the raging sea in their terrifying battle for survival. Not all of the eighty-four men caught at sea in the midst of that brutal storm survived, but considering the odds, it’s a miracle — and a testament to the Coast Guard’s bravery — that any came home to tell their tales at all. Rare signed copy. (M). $48.

Same ex-library unsigned $12

SOFT COVER:

29185. Tougias, Michael J and Casey Sherman. The Finest Hours – The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue. Simon and Schuster. 2009. 224p. In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril. In the early hours of Monday, February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer , found themselves in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic ‘s mercy. The Finest Hours is the gripping, true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships. Coast Guard cutters raced to the aid of those on the Fort Mercer , and when it became apparent that the halves of the Pendleton were in danger of capsizing, the Guard sent out two thirty-six-foot lifeboats as well. These wooden boats, manned by only four seamen each, were dwarfed by the enormous seventy-foot seas. As the tiny rescue vessels set out from the coast of Cape Cod , the men aboard were all fully aware that they were embarking on what could easily become a suicide mission. The spellbinding tale is overflowing with breathtaking scenes that sear themselves into the mind’s eye, as boats capsize, bows and sterns crash into one another, and men hurl themselves into the raging sea in their terrifying battle for survival. Not all of the eighty-four men caught at sea in the midst of that brutal storm survived, but considering the odds, it’s a miracle — and a testament to their bravery — that any came home to tell their tales at all. (M). Soft cover $14.95.

29185x. Tougias, Michael J and Casey Sherman. The Finest Hours – The True Story of a Historic Sea Rescue. Henry Holt. 2014. 162p. DJ. In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril. In the early hours of Monday, February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, found themselves in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic’s mercy. The Finest Hours is the gripping, true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships. Coast Guard cutters raced to the aid of those on the Fort Mercer, and when it became apparent that the halves of the Pendleton were in danger of capsizing, the Guard sent out two thirty-six-foot lifeboats as well. These wooden boats, manned by only four seamen each, were dwarfed by the enormous seventy-foot seas. As the tiny rescue vessels set out from the coast of Cape Cod, the men aboard were all fully aware that they were embarking on what could easily become a suicide mission. The spellbinding tale is overflowing with breathtaking scenes that sear themselves into the mind’s eye, as boats capsize, bows and sterns crash into one another, and men hurl themselves into the raging sea in their terrifying battle for survival. Not all of the eighty-four men caught at sea in the midst of that brutal storm survived, but considering the odds, it’s a miracle — and a testament to their bravery — that any came home to tell their tales at all. (M). $16.95.

29185-mv. Tougias, Michael and Casey Sherman. The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue. 2016. Pocket Book – Simon & Schuster. 311+p. Soft wraps. The true story behind the major motion picture from Disney starring Chris Pine, Eric Bana, and Casey Affleck written by a recognized master of the genre a blockbuster account of tragedy at sea (The Providence Journal ). It s the winter of 1952 and a ferocious Nor easter is pounding New England with howling winds and seventy-foot seas. Two oil tankers get caught in the violent storm off Cape Cod, its fury splitting the massive ships in two. Back on shore, four young Coast Guardsmen (BM1 Bernard Webber, Andrew Fitzgerald, Richard Livesey and Irving Maske) are issued a near impossible mission: save the lives of the stranded seamen. Sailing a tiny lifeboat into the teeth of the killer storm, the rescue crew soon loses all navigation. With no idea where the stranded seaman are nor how to get back home, the crew continues, soon coming upon the SS Pendleton in the darkness. Thirty three hopeful men appear at the wounded ship’s railings. Can the tiny lifeboat save them all? Dripping with suspense and high-stakes human drama, The Finest Hours has incredible and astonishing true-to-life heroism and action-packed rescue scenes. This marvelous and terrifying yarn ( Los Angeles Times ) deserves a place as a classic of survival at sea ( The Boston Globe). In the days following the ordeal, twenty-one Coast Guardsmen involved in multiple rescue missions would be decorated. Based upon the original 1985 account by Coxswain BM1 Bernard Webber. (M). $9.99