Bill O'Donovan's picture of USNS Maury cruising past the Yorktown Victory column really struck a chord with me when I saw it today. I wrote a biography of Matthew Fontaine Maury that was published in 2015, and this oceanographic vessel…
I was honored to have my piece on the Reverend James Maury and Patrick Henry published in this year's Journal of the American Revolution. It was a landmark case -- even in Virginia colonial law -- that laid the groundwork…
Thanks to Reverend Mark Tooley for inviting me to speak to this wonderful group of people. I talked about Matthew Fontaine Maury's role in the attempted hijacking of a Union warship weeks before First Bull Run [Manassas] that the Confederates…
Two years ago yesterday, I delivered a Banner Lecture Series on Matthew Fontaine Maury and his "Last Crusade," the drive for a National Weather Service at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. He failed. The next day after the lecture…
Two reviews that captured what I wanted to do with Matthew Fontaine Maury, Father of Oceanography: picture him in a way that was similar to that of Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear Navy. They were naval officers who were…
Dr. Elisha Kent Kane led the Second Grinnell Expedition to find the remains of the Franklin party and the elusive Northwest Passage. From the end of the Mexican War until 1861, Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury used his international reputation…
Forget the Heinz ketchup commercial using Carly Simon’s waiting for Cat Stevens’ arrival for a date hit Anticipation. But if you’re old enough, remember it from 1971 and being on pins and needles for something big. Well, it was like…
Garibaldi holding an Italian flag. Four years ago, I was finishing my research on Matthew Fontaine Maury's propaganda work in Europe and was reading a number of British publications from the American Civil War era to get a feel how…
Spent two wonderful days at the Naval Academy attending the McMullen Naval History Symposium this week. Great seeing so many people who encouraged me to keep going on Maury – Bill Still, Bill Dudley and Bob Browning. Found the Reconsidering…
I was delighted to be invited to speak on Matthew Fontaine Maury at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg as part of its Great Lives lecture series next year. Maury’s ties to the city and Spotsylvania County were wide and deep.…