The Man Who Loved Schooners

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of General Studies at
the University of Calgary.

The Man Who Loved Schooners is an unusual biography: the life of Walter
Boudreau, written by his son, but told in the first person. This
narrative approach gives the book an immediacy that conventional
biographies lack.

Walter Boudreau devoted his life to sail, and he was fortunate in his
timing. As a young sailor in the Merchant Marine during World War II, he
was one of the last to participate in the traditional trade between the
Maritimes and the Caribbean, and he learned the art of seamanship from
captains who were the last link to the great days of sail. Despite the
dangers of this life—he was one of two survivors from the barkentine
Angelus, sunk by a U-boat in the North Atlantic—Boudreau committed
himself to a life at sea.

The essence of biography is selection, and the author has chosen to
tell the story of a man blessed with a happy marriage and family, a
successful career, sufficient wealth, and a pervasive sense of adventure
and the unexpected. Though it is largely set in the 1950s, at no time
does this text degenerate into “Father Knows Best” nostalgia. The
tone is optimistic, but the loss of ships and crew is a continuing theme
as well. And frequent humor is an antidote to any inclinations to
earnestness.

The book, which is graced with many well-chosen and candid photographs,
is noteworthy for its warmth and evocation of freedom at sea.