The prequel to Man Shark, this is the story of Lainjin’s outrigger search for his mother, who was lost at sea in a typhoon the moon after his birth. The Pacific is an enormous expanse; how is he to find her amid all the possibilities? How does he even know if she survived? His search leads him to Pohnpei and the famous stone village of Nan Madol, where he faces distractions but is befriended by survivors of her lost fleet. They lead him across the treacherous equator where the trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres join in breathless calm. At great personal expense, they show him where they saw her last. Be ready for an emotional journey as Lainjin travels back in space and time to the pre-historic home of his ancestors and meets his destiny awash with blood, loyalty, and ignoble revenge.

Gerald was only 19 when he entered the Peace Corps after two years as a literature student at Albion College. After graduation there he returned to the Marshall Islands with a love for literature and an interest in transcribing the stories he had heard in previous years. He taught for a year and worked as a commercial fisherman for two, honing his knowledge of the language and culture. Then he went for an uninterrupted four year stay on remote Rongelap Atoll to study with the renown traditional navigators and storytellers there. In 1979 he attended a one-year apprentice program at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu to prepare as Director of the Alele Museum and National Archive of the Marshall Islands. He held that position for ten years culminating in a two-year collaboration with the Field Museum of Natural History on their permeant “Traveling the Pacific” exhibit that features a donated traditional outrigger canoe.In 1999 Gerald graduated from the University of Illinois with master’s degrees in business administration and accounting. He currently heads a thriving CPA tax practice in Palos Hill, IL. He has completed the Chicago - Mackinac Island race five times and been a member of the Columbia Yacht Club since 2005.

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