In 1942 alone, German U-Boats sank almost four million gross registered tons of Allied ships convoying goods and war supplies to the war ravaged European continent, Britain and North Africa.That same year, college student Jimmy Kindall, who longs for adventure, leaves his small Mississippi town to join the Merchant Marine. He soon finds he is drawn to the excitement and camaraderie on his Liberty ship the SS Juniper Springs and easily slips into the sailor's life. However, it isn't long that he discovers that supplying the troops in unprotected waters exposes him to some of the fiercest battles in WWII, testing not only his grit and courage but his sanity as well.The Seas That Mourn, written by the author of A Land Remembered, is a riveting story of the unsung heroes who navigated dangerous waters and perilous conditions to provide American and Allied troops with critical supplies of ammunition, fuel and goods. These sailors, often overlooked and even belittled for their service, were key in turning the tide of the war.
About the Author: Patrick Smith is the author of seven novels: The River Is Home, The Beginning, Forever Island, Angel City, Allapattah, A Land Remembered, and The Seas That Mourn, and a story collection, A White Deer and Other Stories. He is also co-author of the non-fiction book The Last Ride and author of the non-fiction book In Search of The Russian Bear. He is a 1999 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the highest and most prestigious cultural honor that can be bestowed upon an individual by the state of Florida. In May 2002 Smith was the recipient of the Florida Historical Society's Fay Schweim Award as the "Greatest Living Floridian." The one-time-only award was established to honor the one individual who has contributed the most to Florida in recent history. Smith has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, in 1973 for Forever Island, which was a 1974 selection of Reader's Digest Condensed Books both in the English language edition and in all of the worldwide foreign language editions; in 1978 for Angel City, which was produced as a "Movie of the Week" for the CBS television network; and in 1984 for A Land Remembered, which was an Editors' Choice selection of the New York Times Book Review. Smith's lifetime work was nominated for the 1985 Nobel Prize for Literature. Previous honors include: Tebeau Prize for A Land Remembered as the Most Outstanding Historical Novel, Florida Historical Society, 1986; Outstanding Author Award, Council for Florida Libraries, 1986; Communications Achievement Award, Toastmasters International, 1987; Environmental Writer's Award, Florida Audubon Society, 1987; FLORIDA TODAY Best Writer Award, 1987, 1990, 1992; Medal of Honor, National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1988; Order of the South Award, Southern Academy of Letters, Arts and Sciences, 1996; Florida Ambassador of the Arts Award, Florida Department of State, 1996; the first Florida Cracker Heritage Award, presented for outstanding contribution to Florida Cracker pioneer heritage, Florida Cracker Trail Association, 1997; Florida Literary Legend Award, Florida Heritage Book Festival, St. Augustine, 2008. In 1997, the Florida Historical Society created a new annual award, the Patrick D. Smith Florida Literature Award, in his honor. In June 2013, Smith was selected as one of the Great Floridians. Governor Rick Scott and his wife personally came to his home to give him this award.