The Wreck of the Lady Mary

“Sálvame, por favor. Sálvame.“

Save me. Please save me, he prays to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the chilly, early morning hours of March 24, 2009, 57-year-old José Arias fights for his life, floating in the water 66 miles from Cape May. The nearest lights are from another fishing vessel, which does not see him, anchored less than a half-mile away. A little farther out, a mammoth container ship steams toward Philadelphia.

Although Arias does not know it yet, all six of his friends and fellow fishermen are dead, and the red-hulled scalloper, the Lady Mary, is resting, right-side up, on the sandy bottom of the Atlantic. The mystery of what sank her, which continues to haunt the maritime world, has just begun.”

Read more at www.nj.com or at www.pulitzer.org

(The Star-Ledger)
(2009 finalist, Pulitzer Prize in feature writing)

“The swirling waters along the North Shore of Boston are anchored by a geography of grief: Misery Island, Cripple Cove, the reef of Norman’s Woe.

Jon Sarkin is comfortable in this landscape, shaped as it is by loss and etched with uncertainty. He came here to Cape Ann more than 20 years ago to build a life and start a family. That was before his brain turned against him, before a blood vessel inexplicably shifted a hundredth of an inch and, as quickly as the flap of a butterfly’s wing, set off a wave of events that would change everything.

He tries not to think about any of it, even though fate, he believes, follows him everywhere, just like the sea.”

Read more at www.nj.com

Fossils found in African cave new species of human kin, say scientists Read>>

Scientists shocked the world with a brand new species – but who owns the bones? Read>>

Unusual throat (and mouth) germs linked to schizophrenia, say two new studies Read>>

Scientists find new way to save the brain’s superhighways in Alzheimer’s patients Read>>

How magnets reset depressed brains Read>>

Scientists find the brain’s missing ‘pipes’ Read>>

Black like her: Is racial identity a state of mind? Read>>

Did John Nash’s schizophrenia boost his ‘beautiful mind’? Read>>

Phthalates, found in hundreds of household products, may disrupt sex development of male fetus Read>>

Can’t focus? Maybe you’re a creative genius Read>>

Early music training prevents loss of listening skills later in life Read>>

Music lessons spur emotional and behavioral growth in children, new study says Read>>

SELECTED WRITINGS from The Star-Ledger archives

Marooned in the Moment: Rare case of amnesia leaves woman with no memory Read>>

The Seekers Read>>

The Natural Who Self-Destructed Read>>

48 hours that forever changed New Jersey Read>>

A Shock to the System Read>>

56 Years Later, Story of Lost B-24 Crew can end Read>>

Picturing the Past: How Science is Mapping Memory Part 1>> Part 2>> Part 3>>

After Sandy ‘Angels are Gathering’ Read>>

A Profile on Joyce Carol Oates Read>>

Philip Roth America’s Lion Read>>

A Tennis Champ Shuts Herself Away Read>>

After Breast Cancer Read>>

Effa Manley – Baseball’s ‘black’ Trailblazer Read>>

Finding Amazing Grace in the Language of Flowers Read>>

For him, a Millennium Anniversary was just a Matter of Time Read>>

The Greatness of ‘Gatsby’ at 75 Read>>

Timeless Letters from a Long Ago War Read>>

It’s a Power that Haunts and Intrigues: Total Recall Read>>

Quest for Treasure Read>>

The Other Bard of Camden Read>>

The Secret Life of Einstein’s Brain Read>>

The Desperate Race to keep a Date with Fate Read>>

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:

Of Time and the River Read>>