Catherine Musemeche
Author Talk
Sponsored by the West Falmouth Library
Friday, March, 31st, 2023
1:00 PM
Join us on at the Falmouth Public Library as we welcome author Catherine Musemeche. She will be speaking about her latest book Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II.
"This compelling story of the US Navy's groundbreaking first female oceanographer and the team she assembled illuminates how they weaponized their understanding of maritime environments to save the lives of innumerable WWII sailors and Marines. Lethal Tides is dramatic proof of how the best amongst us can have a profound impact in the most unexpected ways." -- Richard Danzig, 71st Secretary of the Navy
Magnificently researched, brilliantly written, Lethal Tides is immensely entertaining and reads like an action novel. Catherine Musemeche has brought to life the incredible work of the scientists and researchers who made such a remarkable contribution to America's war effort in the Pacific theater during WWII." -- Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy, Ret.), #1 New York Times bestselling author of Make Your Bed and The Hero Code
[An] impressive and inspiring portrait....The result is a rousing account of talent, intelligence, and commitment overcoming prejudice. -- Publishers Weekly
About Lethal Tides:
In Lethal Tides, Catherine Musemeche weaves together science, biography, and military history in the compelling story of an unsung woman who had a dramatic effect on the U.S. Navy’s success against Japan in WWII, creating an intelligence-gathering juggernaut based on the new science of oceanography.
When World War II began, the U.S. Navy was unprepared to enact its island-hopping strategy to reach Japan. Anticipating tides, planning for coral reefs, and preparing for enemy fire was new ground for them, and with lives at stake it was ground that had to be covered quickly. Mary Sears, a marine biologist, was the untapped talent they turned to, and she along with a team of quirky marine scientists were instrumental in turning the tide of the war in the United States’ favor.
The Sears team analyzed ocean currents, made wave and tide predictions, identified zones of bioluminescence, mapped deep-water levels where submarines could hide and gathered information about the topography and surf conditions surrounding the Pacific islands and Japan. Sears was frequently called upon to make middle-of-the-night calculations for last-minute top-secret landing destinations and boldly predicted optimal landing times and locations for amphibious invasions.
In supplying these crucial details, Sears and her team played a major role in averting catastrophes that plagued earlier amphibious landings, like the disastrous Tarawa, and cleared a path to Okinawa, the last major battle of World War II.
About Catherine Musemeche:
Catherine Musemeche is a graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas and the University of Texas School of Law. She has been a pediatric surgeon for more than three decades. Catherine's first book, Small, was longlisted for the E.O. Wilson/Pen American Literary Science Award and was awarded the Texas Writer's League Discovery Prize for Nonfiction in 2015. Her second book, Hurt, was named one of the top ten EMS books of the decade. She has also contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times' "Motherlode" blog, KevinMD.com, Creative Nonfiction magazine and EMS World.
Donations to the library are appreciated.
No reservations are necessary.
Eight Cousins will be on hand selling books.
