Learn More about Annie
and Laura, another, perhaps not so reluctant, whaling girl
About Annie
Here is the poem Annie's granddaughter, Anne, wrote for the proprietor, Amy, on the occasion of her informal assumption of the archives. Without this wonderful poem we would know a great deal less about Annie's direct experience. Anne heard the secret bedtime stories, and is probably the only one of the three girls who remembered them. The poem also inspired many of the art pieces pieces. use.
This marvelous site features Laura Jernegan, a whaling child several years older than Annie. Amos and Laura's father captained at least one of the same ships where Laura, and then Annie lived. We believe they knew one another. Note how much more cheerful are Laura's writings than Annie's and how lovely the terrible tiny cabin Annie recalled looks here... We think this may be due to Laura sailing at the height of the industry, and Annie sailING as it got harder and harder to find whales, and boats aged as they stayed out longer and longer...
This Tell Out Loud Tale is a rich, symphonic account of some of what we think Annie was experiencing and imagining and coming to understand and to boggle and wonder about. It is a tale for everyone to close their eyes and really hear; for people who like to hear tales without illustrations ; for people who are distracted by illustrations,; for people who cannot see the illustrations; and for people who prefer to imagine one's own images as a tale is told. A lot of the art we made for this project is reflected in these words, and vice versa.