Derek Lundy (born December 14, 1946) is a Northern Ireland-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. His first published book was ''

Scott Turow Scott Frederick Turow (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 la ...

: Meeting the Enemy''. He achieved

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

status with his second work, ''Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters'', an account of the harrowing 1996 Vendée Globe round the world

single-handed sailing The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember (i.e., only one person on board the vessel). The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and am ...

race. It has been called "the best book ever written about the terrifying business of single-handed sailing" and ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine called it "one of the best books ever written about sailing." The book was a national bestseller in Canada and has been published around the world in translation. He subsequently published ''The Way of a Ship: A Square-Rigger Voyage in the Last Days of Sail'', a semi-fictionalized account of the voyage of Benjamin Lundy around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

on a

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail plan, sail and rigging arrangement in which a sailing ship, sailing vessel's primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spar (sailing), spars that are perpendicular (or wikt:square#Adjective, square) to t ...

ged sailing vessel in the late 19th century. His next work was published in 2006 and was called ''The Bloody Red Hand: A Journey through Truth, Myth and Terror in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

''. It is an account of the Northern Irish

Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed ...

and their historical roots, told through three of Lundy's ancestors, each of whom played an important role in Irish history. Although Lundy is an (Irish-born) Canadian author, the book received high praise in the United Kingdom. For example, Roy Foster (the Irish historian) stated in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that the book was "terse, idiomatic and arresting" and spoke of the "impressively assured" control of the material. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' said that it was a "distinguished work: erudite, earnest, elucidative, even-handed in its attempt to probe the Northern Ireland

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

mind and memory-box". Lundy's most recent published work is ''Borderlands: Riding the Edge of America'', recounting his experiences riding a motorcycle along the U.S.'s northern and southern borders. It was published in Canada in May 2010. Borderlands was shortlisted for a British Columbia Book prize (the Hubert Evans non fiction prize) in 2011.

Works

*''Scott Turow: Meeting the Enemy'' (ECW Press: 1995) *''Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters'' (Knopf: 1998) *''The Way of a Ship: A Square-Rigger Voyage in the Last Days of Sail'' (Knopf: 2002) *''The Bloody Red Hand: A Journey through Truth, Myth and Terror in Northern Ireland'' (British title: ''Men That God Made Mad'') (2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lundy, Derek 1946 births Living people Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian people of Northern Ireland descent