cover image WAYWARD SAILOR: In Search of the Real Tristan Jones

WAYWARD SAILOR: In Search of the Real Tristan Jones

Anthony Dalton, . . McGraw-Hill/ International Marine, $24.95 (350pp) ISBN 978-0-07-140251-4

Photojournalist and expedition organizer Dalton writes of author/explorer Tristan Jones (1929–1995): "I uncovered the elements of a story woven from the exotic fabrics of deceit, ego, skill, immense courage, tenacity, sexual differences, and, eventually—murder." These qualities all appear prominently in Dalton's arresting study of a sailor who invented himself as a modern hero and kept embellishing the legend until truth and fiction were impossible to pinpoint. Dalton believes Tristan's supposedly seafaring mother was in fact from landlocked Lancashire. Following several voyages, which he later fictionalized, Jones decided to pursue writing seriously. His editor at Sail pronounced his first submissions "dreadful," then suggested he write his experiences in the form of a long letter, which enabled Jones to find his style. This talented mythomaniac, who claimed "[a]ll my stories are true. I just remember them differently each time," also took a stab at theater, invented a marriage no one could verify and, according to Dalton, was secretly gay. Alcoholism led him to brawls; health tragedies—amputation of both legs, emphysema—discouraged but didn't destroy his pugnacious spirit. Occasionally, in the author's zeal for accuracy, he makes Jones such a dark, unpalatable figure that he loses his mythic status and even human dimension. But Dalton achieves stark poignancy when he claims Jones was endowed with "extraordinary talents as a sailor. Given time he could have accomplished all that he claimed." Jones's story as related here should appeal to all those who love adventure, as well as to those who enjoy analyzing the wreckage of damaged, enigmatic and fascinating personalities. Maps. (May)