Overview

This story is about Captain William Driver as told by his Great-Great-grandson, Jack Benz, in collaboration with other writers and advisers. The text is strikingly enhanced by over 200 professionally crafted images and by an appendix of founding father documents. The resources substantially came from Benz's collection of items up to 200 years old. Some episodes are in print for the first time. Captain Driver was born in Salem, MA in 1803 to puritan parents within a culture and heritage of seafarers. His homes were ports and vessels that sailed the vast oceans in the early 19th century. It is a true story of adventure, daring, high drama, heroism, patriotism, and incomparable public service on behalf of the helpless. Young William was gifted beyond his year's as evidenced by his scholarliness in Salem's famed Hacker school, and at 14, his hiring on a trading vessel. This background immersed him in ventures around the world, seeking fame and fortune trading rare spices and other prized commodities. By 21, he captained ships that circled the world on odysseys that exposed him to numerous dangerous encounters at sea, including horrific storms and turbulence with waves over 50 feet high. Ashore, he confronted life-changing events in the lands of cannibals, giants, pirates, savages, and scantily clad island women. In a famous episode, he rescued families of survivors of the original mutineers on HMS ship Bounty and delivered them to their adopted home on Pitcairn Island. This venture was part and parcel in numerous movies, including one receiving an academy award for the best picture of the year and touted best nautical film of all Time. Captain Driver retired young and wealthy and moved to Nashville, TN. with his third wife. Two others predeceased him, and the third is shocking. In this city on the rocks, he was an activist Union sympathizer generally shunned by the largely Confederate citizenry at a time Civil War was imminent. As a staunch abolitionist living where the city even owned slaves, he was a misfit. He and his home place often were vilified because of his views, crusty manner, and irritating practice of displaying Old Glory, his ship's legendary flag. The residents viewed him as a cantankerous rabble-rouser, always rocking the boat and supporting unpopular causes on behalf of the downtrodden, exploited, and uneducated-mainly Native Americans, Negroes, women, the sick, and infirmed. He was their defender, friend, spokesman, and hero. Driver was active in civic affairs, once running for mayor and later holding several governmental offices. Among his significant civic achievements were helping facilitate the establishment of public education in Nashville, and as provost, regulating prostitution and disease control. The Captain routinely picked fights over issues with the churches, government, and establishments in general; even with some in his family members, their discord led to estrangement. His uniqueness is best described in his patriotism evidenced by his fierce defense, respect, and reverence for Old Glory. He had observed and experienced its influence around the world-feared, honored, and respected like no other country's flag. He proclaimed its majesty to be so profound it even waves to defend the rights of those whose actions and speech are cowardly despicable. As a bonus, the book offers ancillary educational information about world cultures, history, geography, navigation, philosophy, religion, and science. Preliminary reviews termed it as attractively presented, cleverly written, edifying, and intensely entertaining-a must-read!

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9780578874623

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"Jack is a lifelong Tennessean currently living in Goodlettsville, Tennessee along with his wife, the former Noroma Carr of Madison, and his Shih Tzu buddy, Bentley. He is the proud father of two daughters, Penney Jones and Kelley Benz, both of Sumner County, Tennessee. He grew up in the Inglewood section of Nashville and graduated from the legendary Isaac Litton High School, known nationally as a school of distinction in academics, athletics, and for it's marching band. Jack attended Tennessee Tech and in 1955 graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Business Administration. He is an avid supporter of basketball programs at Belmont where he played his last two years. Presently in retirement, he continues to serve the University as a Trustee Emeriti and is seen regularly at court-side for home or away basketball games. After serving his commitment in the U. S. Army, Jack entered and completed a 50 year career in the insurance industry. Jack currently is a competitive golfer and for over 40 years was active in sailboat racing. He has won two national championships and other competitive events throughout the eastern waters, the great lakes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Jack Benz has a winning attitude, infectious personality, and relentless work ethic which have been demonstrated the 65 years I have known him. This will be obvious to the readers of this spellbinding account of his famous great, great grandfather. Considering his reputation for having exceptional organizational habits and skills, it is not surprising that he has been collecting resources for this undertaking for over 50 years. I am pleased to introduce Jack Benz as a great American with an all-American story. -author Jack Van Hooser Garrett Williams, aka John Ed Garrett, was born and nurtured in Springfield, Tennessee, and has lived most of his adult years in the Madison Community of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. He was a four-decade career educator with the Metro Nashville Public School District as a special needs classroom teacher, coach, guidance counselor, supervisor, and H.R. Director for the Secondary Schools. He married his high school sweetheart, the former Jo Ann Adams, and they have two children and six grandchildren. Ed's talents beyond the classroom have awarded him U.S. patents and copyrights for intellectual property creations including a public television multi-media production, two personal books, and ghost writings resulting in four additional published books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles. His pseudonym as a writer is Garrett Williams, the surnames in honor of his father and mother. I have known him in diverse roles for over 50 years and have utilized his knowledge and skills along with that of the forthcoming Nancy Arnold in the publishing of two books, viz. A Journey to Remember and Unstable Times-Unlikely Outcomes. With admiration, I call Ed a ""wordsmith."" You will enjoy his clever imagination and creative contributions to this book. -author Jack Van Hooser Nancy was born in raised in Cedar Hill, TN. and currently lives in Springfield, Tennessee, with her husband Eddie and Lucky, everyone's favorite Chihuahua-Doberman mix. She is a proud mother of two boys, grandma to four and great-grandma to three, still enjoying using her skills ""to play"" as she calls it, in Photoshop and InDesign helping others by retouching old photographs, self-publishing books, designing brochures, and genealogical research. Along with this current publication about Captain William Driver, I encourage readers to view her amazing graphic manipulations and artistic talents displayed in my two aforementioned books, wherein she prepared all of the visuals, layouts, and implemented the print-on-demand processes. ""She is incredibly gifted and talented, and my foregoing book about Old Glory is compelling evidence of her mastery and artistry. -author Jack Benz."

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