Life in the Slow Lane

By Arthur E. Martin

Book Overview

This is the story of Arthur E. Martin, N.A., designer of the famous Alden Ocean Shell, generally hailed as the boat, which started recreational rowing, and today the most popular rowing boat in the world.It begins and ends at the Isles of Shoals, the barren rocks off the coast of Maine steeped in history of famous writers, artists, and musicians, as well as the lobstermen whom the author admires so much. His boyhood, intimately dependent upon all kinds of small boats for the necessities of life as well as its pleasures, nurtured a lifelong love as well as a successful professional career in boat design. Kent School provided him with the opportunity to row in an eight-oared shell, as well as a single wherry, and generated a clash of ideas and personalities with Father Sill and others in authority. At Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, Martin received his necessary technical education, and endured some tense but amusing confrontations with Admiral Rock, the authoritarian man in charge. He casually mentions famous people whom he has met when they bought Aldens. Cabinet members, senators, governors, captains of industry, and leading figures of sports and media are included, along with Rockefellers, DuPonts, and even the Aga Khan.The book is sprinkled with the philosophy and wit of the author, and invites readers to join in a slower, more thoughtful lifestyle, with an appreciation for God and nature, and the healthy body which many abuse by cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, rich foods, and lack of exercise.The Alden Ocean Shell, original conceived as a home hobby project, brought fame to the boat, the designer, and the little town of Kittery Point, Maine, which became the company headquarters. National papers, such as the New York Times and USA Today, national magazines such as Sports Illustrated and virtually all of the yachting, boating, and rowing magazines, have written about the unique boats and their unconventional designer. Even the major television networks have devoted prime time to the rowing scene in Kittery Point.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0914339303
• ISBN13: 9780914339304
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: UNKNO
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"