Fred Dutton was sixteen in 1916 when he first went to work on a Great Lakes ship. Born into a well-to-do shipping family, he went to sea rather than join the family business. He eventually became a railroad lawyer, but managed to keep his hand on a ship's wheel, arranging each summer with steamship companies to sail relief wheelsman during his vacation.
William Donohue Ellis is editor of Inland Seas and the author of more than twenty books, including Land of the Inland Seas, The Ordinance of 1787, and the highly acclaimed Bounty lands Trilogy.