Dad gave mom Beautiful Swimmers in 1976, as her grandfather was a waterman on the Chesapeake Bay. John Forrest (Pop) was a widower with young children. He met Grace Burke (Mama Grace) in Crisfield, Maryland when he was over to sell his catch. They married in 1916, then she and her daughter Ruth moved to his home on Gwynn’s Island.

Mama Grace had become pregnant out of wedlock. I don’t know that story but I do know her parents kicked her out. Her grandmother took her in and she lived with her until John Forrest wed her.

Her parents had money and position “in society”. Mama Grace & John were hard up. Their sofa was a back seat from a car. But she made sure my mom & her sister knew the social graces and how to behave in society. She taught them which fork & which spoon to use etc. When in doubt follow your hostess’s example. You would never want to embarress your hostess by selecting the correct utensil when she didn’t.

During the great depression mom & her sister Frances would be shipped off to their grandparents home for the summers. There they would wade the shallows looking for peelers, help in the veggie garden, shuck oysters & pick crabs. The house was right on the water with a sleeping porch for hot summer nights and a frankly creepy outhouse… (I know this because the outhouse was still used on my first trip to Gwynns Island to see my grandmother (Ruth) & her husband Daddy Les!)

I read moms copy of Beautiful Swimmers during the pandemic and loved it as much as I’ve enjoyed The Everglades: River of Grass. So when I heard about our library selecting Chesapeake Requiem as this months community read I was instantly interested!

What are community reads, you ask? For community reads the library gives away copies of a book for the community to read! The author will then come to chat at each branch. Our author visit to the Crozet branch is March 15!

This is a wonderful read. Beautiful, evocative, lyrical phrasing & a fascinating story. The history of Tangier island & its people combined with the urgency of its fragile, indeed precarious, future existance.

We had considered a trip this summer to Crisfield, where my moms folk came from, then ferry over to Tangier. But after reading Chesapeake Requiem we have decided Crisfield is far enough for us.