Rachel Rowley Spaulding has written one book, but that slim volume has earned her accolades from readers and critics alike. Kirkus Reviews praised Spaulding’s In Search of the Ellen Marie in November 2014, which she self-published in August of that year. Of the book, Kirkus wrote: “…a page-turner may be a cliché but this memoir-cum-mystery with a clever premise is a strong contender for the honor.”
Speaking to the Sippican Woman’s Club members on September 8, some eight years from when she first began researching the fate of the fishing boat Ellen Marie, Spaulding shared how the quest had unfolded.
During an impromptu walk-about in the seaport district of New Bedford, Spaulding was drawn into the Moniz Art Gallery on Water Street. There she found a print the artist had done of one of his iconic images – the wheelhouse of a fishing boat, the Ellen Marie.
Spaulding, although enraptured by the colors and the subject matter of the print, returned home that day empty-handed. Haunted by the artwork, she returned to the gallery only to find it had been sold. However, the gallery manager advised her that the original painting was still available. In spite of the dear sum she paid, Spaulding was delighted to have the original painting in her possession. She was yet to learn how its charm would inspire and forever change her life.
It is known that fishermen can be very superstitious, and if ghosts and spells can be cast over living breathing humans, then Spaulding was caught in the net cast by that fishing boat. She simply had to find out what had become of the Ellen Marie.
Spaulding told the club members of her many conversations with boat captains, family members of fishermen, boat builders, and everyday people whose lives are entwined in the fishing industry. She learned it wasn’t very easy to track down the whereabouts of a single boat that no one had seen in years, yet she was undaunted and continued to seek out information.
Peeling back the years through research, she did eventually discover what she had been looking for: the fate of the Ellen Marie. But after speaking for an hour, sharing the twists and turns, the heartfelt conversations she had had with families who lost loved ones to the unforgiving sea, and the realities and salted joy of bringing home a good haul, she said, “I’ll take questions now, except I will not answer what became of the Ellen Marie.”
And why should she? Spaulding explained that she didn’t want to spoil the ending for those who wished to read the book. It is, after all, a mystery story that pulls the reader along, building towards the climax, building towards “who done it.”
Spaulding’s story is one that is more than just the effort of researching her subject matter; it is the relationship between people when one is willing to open up and share emotions. It is the need we all have to tell our stories to someone willing to truly listen. It is the desire of one woman to learn to develop her talent to tell a story others would be interested in reading.
Spaulding, at a time in her life when she could explore subjects that truly interested her, the fishing industry of New Bedford, the Ellen Marie, becoming a student of writing, even learning to love again, was able to bring it all together and produce her own work of art. She inspires others by asking us to find out what our passions are and then to pursue them to completion. Spaulding makes us wonder what mysteries lay ahead for us all, and will we with open hearts and minds sail towards them.
To learn more about the Sippican Woman’s Club, you may visit www.sippicanwomansclub.org and to learn more about Spaulding and her story, visit www.rachelrowleyspaulding.com.
By Marilou Newell