A few weeks ago, I was invited to the Clark Cooke House in Newport to share The Heart of Hound with the local marine industry—a standing-room only crowd that included two former Hound captains.
Several people (not the captains) asked what inspired the book, which made me realize I had not (yet?) come up with an answer concise enough for a loud bar. So here is my long response, with hopes that by the end of this post I’ll have figured out a much shorter version.
Long Answer, Part 1: Curiosity
Devoted blog readers already know that following my own research instincts is what first led me to writing about Hound. In April 2022, I spotted a photo of Aage Nielsen in the Sailing World archives (while looking for something else entirely). As I wrote in Forgotten Photos Spark Story, I just knew that craggy image would someday provide fresh inspiration.
That summer, I was asked to write a story for Seahorse that included a sidebar about Hound. I interviewed owner Dan Litchfield just after they’d won their class in his first Newport Bermuda Race as a skipper—and yet he was surprisingly eager to talk about the boat as a perfect kid-raising cruising platform. So, when I stumbled onto her at anchor in my own foggy backyard, I could practically taste the memories being made down below.
Apparently Dan enjoyed that first conversation as much as I did, because in October he invited me out for Hound’s first sail with her third keel. Impressed with both the crew’s efficient boat handling and their endless banter, all set against the varnished backdrop of Hound’s timeless beauty, I was hungry to learn more. Back at the dock, I thanked Dan for including me—and then casually asked if he would be interested in a book about the boat’s history. The reply was an enthusiastic “YES!”
(Obviously, this answer is already far too long to shout across a crowded bar . . . and it’s only the beginning.)
Long Answer, Part 2: Nostalgia and New/Old Stories
Learning more about Hound brought me right back to my own childhood. She is the same age as the boat I grew up on, and she’s dropped anchor in many of the same harbors I visited with my parents. But nostalgia alone couldn’t have kept my interest for the three years it took to create The Heart of Hound, because any boat is just a vehicle for her people.
For better or worse, every Hound decade so far has been dominated by at least one particularly strong character; owner, crew, or—at times—both. Which is how she managed to collect a whole book-load of stories (and why those two captains at the Cooke House already knew their former ride capable of inspiration).
Long Answer Part 3: Pulling It All Together
Watching members of the greater Hound family leaf through the book has made me realize: no one lived through her entire story. And that story is still being written: more racing, and more kid-raising, lie in her future. As her onboard reporter Nick Horbaczewski puts it, “There is still so much more to come.”
Short Answer
Okay, now that you know the background: what do you think of the following as a cocktail-party-worthy response to the inevitable question, what inspired this book?
“The more I dug into Hound’s history, the more intrigued I was by her unique ability to win both trophies and hearts. She’s sparked a ton of incredible stories—and I got to collect them.”
Let me know if you’d be “hooked,” either in the comments below or by email. Meanwhile, thanks for helping me work through a bar-worthy answer to the most common author question!
See you next Thursday.
(Go Hound!)
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