4/14/2015: Book signing, State Reception Room, State Capitol Bldg.
4/15/2015: 7AM, Heritage Caucus, USS Olympia presentation. Sherberg Bldg.
4/30/2015: Narration aboard schooner Adventuress. 5:30PM, Budd Inlet.
Cancellation: Panorama has cancelled the April 4-part series "Sailing the Wine Dark Sea."
5/2/2015: Local historian conference, Schmidt House.
9/12/2015: Centralia College, Writers Workshop Presentation
Friday, April 10, 2015
Thursday, August 14, 2014
2014 Author Appearances
Talks 2014-15
A schedule of maritime history appearances
1-28-14 - Testimony before the Washington State Senate Natural Resources Committee in favor of a bill creating a State Maritime Heritage Area.
2-15-14 - KXXO Radio, the Dick Pust Show, “Saving the Cruiser USS Olympia.”
5-6-14 - Washington Education Association, Chinook Council – “Confederates on the Northwest Coast.”
5-18-14 - Evergreen Heights Association Author’s Sale
6-16-14 - Olympia Sail and Power Squadron, “Saving the Cruiser USS Olympia.”
7-21-14 - Olympia Rotary, “Saving the Cruiser USS Olympia.” At noon.
7-30-14 - Thurston County Fair, Author’s Corner – 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
7-31-14 - Thurston County Fair, Author’s Corner -10:00 am to noon.
8-3-14 - Thurston County Fair, Author’s Corner – 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
8-29-14 - Olympia Harbor Days, “Save the USS Olympia” tent, next to the Oyster House, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Sale of The Chilean Corvette, 30% to USS Olympia
8-30-14 - Olympia Harbor Days, “Save the USS Olympia” tent, next to the Oyster House, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
8-31-14 - Olympia Harbor Days, “Save the USS Olympia” tent, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
9-5, 6, 7, - 2014 – Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, Author’s Tent. Daily.
9-9-14 – Olympia Lions, First Baptist Church, “Saving the USS Olympia,” + 30% book sales to the Olympia, noon
9-14-14 – Narration aboard SS Virginia V to Panorama group on “Early Encounters in Puget Sound” during Tacoma to Seattle cruise. Noon to 5:30 pm.
10-2-14 – Bainbridge Island Oatmeal Club, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, “Saving the USS Olympia,” + 30% book sales to the Olympia
11-5-14 – Panorama Retirement Community’s “Education in Retirement” series, topic TBD
11-11-14 - WA125 Admissions Day, “Save the USS Olympia table,” Capitol Rotunda,
10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
11-13-14 – State Capitol Reception Room, Reading and Book Signing, The Chilean Corvette. TBD, Legislative Building Gift Shop
2-15-2015, Jubilee Community Club, North Marvin Road, Olympia, time TBD, “Confederates on the Northwest Coast”
Please call Les at 360-754-3711 or 360-701-3213 to schedule an appearance or for more information about the above listed appearances.
All of Les books will be available for sale at these events including: The Chesapeake Command, Gray Raiders, Green Seas, The Wake of the Woonsocket, and The Pride of Pascagoula, The Chilean Corvette and The Wilkes Expedition, Charles Wilkes and the Oregon Country, a history.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Review of The Pride of Pascagoula
An excellent review of The Pride of Pascagoula was published in the July edition of All Force Military. USA
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
2011 Appearance Schedule
June 15: Olympia Chapter, Military Officers Assoc. of America, “The Last Battle Fleets, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.”
June 25: Seattle Pioneer Association, “Confederates on the Northwest Coast.”
July 21: Secretary of State’s History Lunch, State Capitol, “Confederates on the Northwest Coast.”
Oct 2: South Sound Estuary Association Center cruise, 1-4 pm, narration on area explorations, including Wilkes, Vancouver, Puget, McMillan, and Bodega y Quadra.
June 25: Seattle Pioneer Association, “Confederates on the Northwest Coast.”
July 21: Secretary of State’s History Lunch, State Capitol, “Confederates on the Northwest Coast.”
Oct 2: South Sound Estuary Association Center cruise, 1-4 pm, narration on area explorations, including Wilkes, Vancouver, Puget, McMillan, and Bodega y Quadra.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Civil War Series Makes The Olympian Best Seller List
Fireside Bookstore listed all four novels of the American Civil War at sea by Les Eldridge on their list of best sellers for the week of October 31st after a well-attended author event at their store on Legion Way in Olympia. The series is in stock there as well as at several other independent bookstores in the Northwest and Hawaii and continues to be offered in perfect paper back as well as e-book through Amazon, Kindle and Nook. This is a first for these four novels to appear simultaneously on a bookseller's best seller list.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Pride of Pascagoula:
The fourth novel in the Civil War at sea saga was released this week. The Pride of Pascagoula is available through this site and on Also available as e-books on Nook, and
Amazon Kindle.
The Pride of Pascagoula:
Leeward Coast Press has published Eldridge’s “The Pride of Pascagoula”. Tobias and Rory narrowly escape harm as their respective ships, USS Kearsarge and CSS Alabama, clash in a duel to the death in the waters off Cherbourg, France. Then, Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory sends Rory and a cadre of Confederate naval officers across the Isthmus of Panama and north to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, to arm a Rebel Raider there. Tobias and Master’s Mate Kekoa Kalama, with their experience in Pacific whaling waters, are in hot pursuit, determined to defend the Union whaling fleet against destruction in the Bering Sea.
Four Dunbrody/StJohn Novels Available
All four of the Civil War at sea novels featuring Rory Dunbrody, CSN and Tobias St John, USN written by Les Eldridge are available here (the PayPal button on the top right column) through PayPal and on Amazon, Nook and Amazon Kindle.
For information about scheduling an author appearance or if you have difficulty obtaining the books through bookstores or the above referenced sites please contact:
Les Eldridge at: lmeldridge@earthlink.net
or or his publisher Leeward Coast Press at: leewardcoastpress@comcast.net
Please read the following posts for more information on each of the four novels.
For information about scheduling an author appearance or if you have difficulty obtaining the books through bookstores or the above referenced sites please contact:
Les Eldridge at: lmeldridge@earthlink.net
or or his publisher Leeward Coast Press at: leewardcoastpress@comcast.net
Please read the following posts for more information on each of the four novels.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
American Civil War At Sea Novels
Read on for information about the novels by author, Les Eldridge, about the maritime Civil War and meet his characters, Rory Dunbrody, CSN and Tobias St.John, USN.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
About The Author
Les Eldridge is the author of four novels in a series on the American Civil War at sea. He also co-authored The Wilkes Expediton, Puget Sound and the Oregon Country, a history. He is a US Army veteran who taught maritime history periodically for 30 years in Washington colleges, and chaired the maritime committee of the Washington State Centennial Committee as well as holding appointments from five Washington State governors and the chief justice of the State Supreme Court.
He began his series after retiring from careers in university administration, elected office, and administrative law. He lives on Puget Sound and the island of O'ahu.
| Series: Rory Dunbrody and Tobias St. John | ||||
| Year | Book | Comment | ||
| The Chesapeake Command | Dunbrody and St. John are thrust into armed confrontation with the British over possession of San Juan Island | |||
| Gray Raiders, Green Seas | Confrontation on Chesapeake Bay, the Carolina coasts and the high seas | |||
| The Wake of the Woonsocket The Pride of Pascagoula | Tobias, aboard USS Woonsocket, must sort through the conflicting expectations of Mexican President Benito Juarez
| |||
Dear Reader
We are proud to present Les Eldridge's Dunbrody - St. John series, which include: The Chesapeake Command (Leeward Coast Press - 2nd Edition, 2006), Gray Raiders, Green Seas (Leeward Coast Press, 2007), The Wake of the Woonsocket (Leeward Coast Press, 2008) and The Pride of Pascagoula (Leeward Coast Press, 2010). This is a series of the American Civil War at sea.
Monday, July 19, 2010
The Chesapeake Command - 2nd Edition
The Chesapeake Command finds shipwreck, Indian raids and the threat of war with Great Britain confronting two U.S. Navy officers, one Irish, one black, in the Pacific Northwest on the eve of the American Civil War. Rory Dunbrody and Tobias St. John, sea officers and best friends, are thrust into armed confrontation with the British over possession of remote San Juan Island. Only deft diplomacy averts a shooting war. Then, these two comrades from the lowest social orders of the day are separated by the advent of civil war. Rory, now a Confederate lieutenant, and Tobias, a Union sailing master, struggle to maintain their friendship as they battle the enemy, and one another, in New Orleans, Chesapeake Bay and on the Carolina coasts.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Gray Raiders, Green Seas
In Gray Raiders, Green Seas,we learn of Rory Dunbrody, Confederate Navy lieutenant born in the South but raised in Ireland; bold, irreverent, his cynicism tempered with humor, and meet his best friend Tobias St. John, a Union sailing master born into slavery in the Caribbean; courageous, contemplative and careful not to expect too much from life. Endure their struggle to keep a friendship intact despite their separation by the Civil War. See these friends from the lowest social orders of the day overcome the disdain and bias of a few fellow officers and build their reputations for courage and resourcefulness. Meet their new shipmate Kekoa Kalama, former whaler and star navigator. Experience a ride with Confederate cavalryman John S. Mosby, a desperate assault on coast fortifications, dangerous espionage, the brilliant capture of a Confederate blockade-runner, a daring rescue of an infantry unit surrounded behind enemy lines and the pivotal 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads. Watch these sea officers face the challenges of storm and the enemy afloat and ashore.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Wake of the Woonsocket:
In the Wake of the Woonsocket, Tobias St John undertakes yet another espionage mission masterminded by Lincoln and his Secret Service Chief, Allen Pinkerton and meets Mexican President Benito Juarez. Together, they confound confederate blockade runners. In the process, Tobias barely escapes death at the hand of his nemesis, blockade runner Bertram Ludlow, off the mouth of the Rio Bravo! Next, Rory Dunbrody and Tobias are thrown together during the greatest race riot in history, as New York Irish and free Blacks clash while the Draft takes effect. They must stage a mock murder to keep the men in their commands alive in the chaos. And speaking of New York, Raphael Semmes in the CSS Alabama opted not to attack its harbor for lack of fuel, and Taylor Wood of the CSS Rappahannock cancelled a raid on the Brooklyn Navy Yard for want of a pilot. Is there no Rebel Navy raider who will rise to the challenge? Rory Dunbrody, now there’s the lad! He assaults New York with explosive results!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
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