Memoirs of a Gloucester Fisherman

by R. Salve Testaverde

Memoirs of a Gloucester Fisherman is one man's story of a lifetime spent seafaring out of Gloucester - a personal record, an intimate summing-up, of unusual candor and strength. At the same time, Salve Testaverde's account represents an important document in the history of commercial fishing over the past fifty years. In the span of his working life, which began in 1931 on his father's boat, R. Salve Testaverde has seen the coastal fishery of New England change, and adapt to change, relentlessly. The story of his career traces the ups and downs of the Gloucester fleet as shifting market conditions and developing technology challenge its men to adapt and survive. But Memoirs of a Gloucester Fisherman is also a story of the love between a woman and a man, of a marriage that flourished through the hardships and uncertainties of the Depression, the War, and, of his wife and the home she made for her family brings us deep inside the man himself - his doubts, his joys, his ways with the people he loves. Just as indelibly, we see the Testaverdes against the sharply drawn backdrop of Gloucester's fishing community. In scenes of extraordinary vitality, Salve Testaverde describes the daily life of the Fort neighborhood as it was in the '20s; the first of the famous fiestas in honor of St. Peter; the competition and especially the camaraderie among the men of the fleet, culminating in their triumphant cooperative effort to create the Fisherman's Wharf. In Salve Testaverde's song of himself, we hear the true voice of a community and a way of life. Memoirs of a Gloucester Fisherman is an unforgettable book.

204 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1987

Reviews

[Bobbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who is interested in New England history and the fisherman that have spent centuries fishing the waters from New York to Newfoundland, this is a wonderfully informative book. It's the story of Salve Testaverde, an Italian-American whose parents came from Italy and settled in Gloucester in the early part of the 20th century. Salve fished with his father as a child, quit school and spent the rest of his life on the sea. The stories of his life is wonderfully alive with vivid descriptions of a fisherman's rough and often struggling existence. I can't imagine a more difficult way to make a living. He fished with his father, with his friends and finally, with his sons. My great grandfather and his ancestors also fished out of Gloucester so I wanted to get a feel for what they experienced and this book certainly gave me what I was looking for. A great read.