Book Talks

Two new books by members of the Reedville Fishermen's Museum will be featured at the museum's second winter 2026 lecture. The event will begin at 6:30pm Feb. 2 at the Fairfields Volunteer Fire Department, 119 Main St., Reedville. Admission is free.

The authors/illustrator will talk about their books and offer them for sale and signing.

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"War on the Inland Sea"

Thomas Briggs' first book, a historical novel set during the French and Indian War, is the saga of the conflict for control of the Great Lakes. Told from three perspectives -- the French, British and Native American -- the principal narrative follows the British attempts to build a fleet on Lake Ontario in 1755.

Briggs uses his extensive sailing knowledge, significant research and experience in Afghanistan to describe the realities of building and sailing vessels in the wilderness while engaged in war.

Briggs is a captain of the museum's historic skipjack, Claud W. Somers. He has sailed as captain or crew on a variety of boats from New York Harbor to the Caribbean.

He has a thirty-year career in higher education, the last ten of which have been spent at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was deployed to Bahrain with the U.S. Navy in 2024, returning to VCU in March 2025 as their chief risk officer.

He retires from the U.S. Navy Reserve this year as a chief warrant officer, with twenty-one years of service. Despite completing several thousand miles under sail, he has never served on a naval vessel.

The book, published by Vanguard Press, costs $14.99.

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"ABCs of Oystering on the Chesapeake Bay”

Susan Swift (author) and Heather Cockrell (illustrator) will talk about their second collaboration. They take readers through each letter of the alphabet with fun facts and colorful illustrations.

Swift is librarian at Northumberland Elementary School. Cockrell is art teacher at Northumberland Middle School.

Cockrell and Swift have a deep appreciation for the heritage of watermen on the bay.

Swift has lived on the Northern Neck for 36 years. Her husband, Keith, is a fourth-generation waterman. Cockrell’s husband, Nick, is engineer on one of Ocean Harvester’s fish boats. Both she and her husband were born and raised on the Northern Neck.

The educators' first book, “ABCs of Crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay,” was published in 2024. They will have copies of both books at the event. They are published by Belle Isle Books, an imprint of Brandylane Publishers Inc. Each is $17 soft cover and $26 hard cover.

A third book, "ABCs of Menhaden Fishing on the Chesapeake Bay," is planned.

For more information, call 804-453-6529 or email office@rfmuseum.org.