David Paul Collins was born with a thirst for adventure. As a teenager, he set out to go to sea on his own, working aboard merchant ships sailing under African, Asian and Central American flags and later, on American ships as a member of the National Maritime Union.

SHANGHAIED is a fictionalized memoir based on his experiences on a Liberian freighter and the dangerous ways of life at sea in the 1950s. The fictional protagonist, fifteen-year-old Jack Sligo, is looking for a summer job when he is shanghaied on an African freighter. By the time September school bells rang, Jack had learned lessons that would never have been taught at St. Peter’s Central Catholic High School.

Unbeknownst to Jack, the ship’s bo’sun, Manor Nelson, a Cayman Islander, protected him from members of the crew who would have made  Caribbean pirates seem like drawing room gentlemen.

Author’s Favorite Books:

Sebald, W.G. Austerlitz, Penguin Group

Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm, W.W Norton & Co, Inc.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea, Penguin Group

McPhee, John. Looking for a Ship, MacFarlane Walter & Ross

McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes, Scribner

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Kidnapped, Signet

Conrad, Barnaby. Last Boat to Cadiz, Capra Press

Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years before the Mast, Barnes and Noble Classics

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi, Cannon Gate

Trevor, William. The Boarding-House, Viking

Conrad Joseph. Lord Jim, Thomas C Moser Publisher