2026 Reading Challenge
Jack Dempsey
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PEOPLE OF THE SEA: New History, New Hope
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Jack Dempsey

Goodreads Author


Born
in Stoneham Massachusetts, The United States
January 21, 1955

Website

Genre
Historical Fiction, History, Nonfiction

Member Since
May 2010

URL


Jack Dempsey (b. 1955) grew up north of Boston, Massachusetts USA. He began writing freelance in New York City, and then many stays in Greece led to
"Ariadne’s Brother: A Novel on the Fall of Bronze Age Crete" (Athens: Kalendis 1996). Earning his Ph.D. in Native and Early American Studies at Brown University, Jack wrote, edited and produced four books and two films in those fields, including "'New English Canaan' by Thomas Morton of 'Merrymount,'" "Good News from New England & Other Writings on the Killings at Weymouth Colony," "Mystic Fiasco: How the Indians Won The Pequot War," and "Nani: A Native New England Story." As a professor for 22 years he also focused on college students’ public speaking. With appearances from National Public Rad ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?
Jack Dempsey I've learned one kind of writing liberation the hard way, and one easily. It's easy to go with young Hemingway who always stopped a good day's hard wo…moreI've learned one kind of writing liberation the hard way, and one easily. It's easy to go with young Hemingway who always stopped a good day's hard work when he knew the next big movement to come---so he had a clear confident start-point next time. (Works consistently for me.) What took a longer/harder time was stepping past ego to get it done daily. Ego worries, ego hacks at the poet, ego wants fast results and sure success, ego despairs and kills the day. I've learned that with ego, no matter how good the writing conditions, there's only one response that works: let it go, do not listen, for ego always has a (fake) reason you can't get it done. Physically put pen to paper/fingers to the board and step around it. This does get easier and more productive. (less)
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What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Jack Dempsey Having known myself a writer since earliest memory it was always about the joy of living in whatever outer way that would nourish what's coming next f…moreHaving known myself a writer since earliest memory it was always about the joy of living in whatever outer way that would nourish what's coming next from inside. Big words I guess, but your life and work and soul are a single adventure.(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.68 · 19 ratings · 4 reviews · 8 distinct works
New English Canaan
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3.55 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 1966 — 89 editions
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Ariadne's brother: A novel ...
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3.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions
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Thomas Morton of "Merrymoun...
3.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2000 — 3 editions
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People of the Sea: A Novel ...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Mystic Fiasco How the India...
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003 — 4 editions
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Good News from New England:...
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The Knossos Calendar: Minoa...
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New English Canaan Text & N...
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More books by Jack Dempsey…

158 posts
Jack Dempsey's Blog: TRAVEL THE ANCIENT WORLD WITH 'PEOPLE OF THE SEA: A NOV

COFFEE WITH GAZA’S (LATE) POET SALEEM AL NAFFAR

Saleem al Naffar—who wrote defiantly, “I am hiding my resurrection among flowers.” True enough, for Saleem will live forever in his poems.

My dear Palestinian brother, Gaza historian Muhammad Ismael, has suffered many deeply-personal losses of family and friends in these years of Israel’s genocidal onslaught. And one of the hardest to bear was the murder of his close friend and coffee-partn

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Published on November 02, 2025 01:17
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Jack’s Recent Updates

Jack Dempsey wrote a new blog post

‘SAILING GRACE’ TAKES YOU TO DIA ISLE, CRETE




Dia Isle, just north of Crete’s north-central coast

Through 40 years of research-visits and writing-stays in Crete, I never had set foot upon this b Read more of this blog post »
Nov 14, 2025 04:37AM  · 
More of Jack's books…
Quotes by Jack Dempsey  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Champions get up when they can't.”
― Jack Dempsey
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“The best defense is a good offense.”
― Jack Dempsey
tags: best-defense, defense, offense, strategy
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“I was a pretty good fighter. But it was the writers who made me great.”
― Jack Dempsey
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Jack’s Quotes

“He is a bold man who, in his writing, dares to alter---even further to distort---what he has seen and heard.”
― James Joyce
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Jack’s Groups

22454 Historical Fictionistas — 15911 members — last activity 1 hour, 34 min ago
Welcome to Historical Fictionistas! We want to experience all different kinds of HF with all different kinds of people. The more diverse, the better. ...more
54239 Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction — 6137 members — last activity Dec 31, 2025 06:45AM
The focus of this group is historical fiction set in Ancient and Medieval eras(with some post Medieval), in any geographical location. Preference is g ...more
31471 THE Group for Authors! — 12960 members — last activity Jan 09, 2026 07:57AM
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.

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message 2: by Jack
Apr 30, 2017 05:02AM

Jack Dempsey REVIEW of "People of the Sea" by Reuters journalist & author Uli Schmetzer:

The Minoan tribe's odyssey to what is today Palestine and Israel is defined in Old Testament texts as the invasion of the 'Philistines.' In his gripping novel, a richly embroidered tapestry of human migration, Jack Dempsey, historian and researcher on Minoan culture, painstakingly recreates the religion, the lifestyle and the ordeal of the migrants, escaping from their war-ravaged homeland, as they brave the unpredictable sea in flimsy vessels and the hatred of their hosts in scenarios that recall the predicament of today's refugees floating into Europe. The book should be read by all those who still believe different races and religions cannot mix, when they always have---or, that migration is a scourge when in reality it always benefited both sides.


message 1: by Jack
Mar 27, 2017 03:04AM

Jack Dempsey The quotations are all from the fighter, not the writer.


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