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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2017)
22 // COASTWEEKEND.COM BOOK SHELF // GLIMPSE // WILDLIFE // POP CULTURE // WORDS // Q&A // FOOD // FUN NW word nerd By RYAN HUME Coffenbury [kɒf•ɪn•bɛr•i] noun 1. Coff enbury Lake: a long, shallow dune lake in Fort Ste- vens State Park with no inlets or outlets. Popular for family outings, there are two swim- ming areas, a boat launch, a picnic area and restrooms. The 2.5-mile-loop Coff enbury Lake Trail circles out from the lake. Surrounded by dense forest, the lake is stocked with trout and popular with anglers. Origin: Coffenbury, a variant of Sou’Wester Garden Club plant sale er’s Day Think Moth Saturday, May 13 th 9 AM TO Noon Seaside Convention Center Wide Variety of Plants & Planters Scholarship Fund Raffl e the Anglo-Saxon surname, Coffinbury or Coffinberry, is most likely an occupational surname given to undertakers. Though there is no clear evidence of its origin, applying names to people based on their livelihood was a common practice. Coffin entered English prior to 1338 borrowed from the Old French, cofin, which meant “sarcophagus.” Despite its origin, the term in English originally applied to a basket or a chest. The first known reference in English to the term applying to a burial casket would be nearly two hundred years later in 1525. Bury comes out the Old English byrgan, which is a cognate with the Old High German verb bergan, meaning “to protect” or “to conceal.” The North Coast lake is named in honor of George Washington Coffenbury, an early pioneer who emigrated from Illinois to become a four-term county judge in Clatsop County following the creation of the Oregon Territorial Court in 1849. BOOKMONGER CIRCLING THE GLOBE — SOME 400 YEARS APART By BARBARA LLOYD MCMICHAEL Circumnavigating the globe takes a commitment of time and resources that is practically inconceivable to most of us in today’s hurly-burly society. But this week we’ll take a look at two books about round-the- world voyages: one occurred forty years ago, and the other was the fi rst recorded feat of circumnavigation, which happened in the 16th century. In “Magellan’s Naviga- tor,” Kenneth D. Schultz, an author from Poulsbo, Washington, provides a new angle on the bold but trouble-plagued Armada of the Moluccas, a naval expedition of fi ve ships that sailed from Seville in 1519 to develop a westbound route around the Americas and across the Pacifi c Ocean to the Spice Islands. Instead of focusing his tale on Ferdinand Magellan, the expedition leader who was murdered in the Philip- pines, Schultz tells the story “Years later, [Chris] Lang has returned to begin working on his fourth feature fi lm: ‘Coff enbury Lake.’ Though not the same lake as the one that inspired the fi lm, the name ‘Coff enbury’ and the atmosphere — surrounding trees with green moss dangling from their limbs — seemed apt for a horror movie, Lang said.” — Jack Heff ernan, “At Coff enbury Lake, horror is in the name,” The Daily Astorian, April 20, 2017 “The Mayfl ower took the Coff enbury funeral party round to Greenwood yesterday.” —“Along the Water Front,” The Daily Astorian, July 16, 1895, P. 3 2 0 LANDSCAPE $ BARK (U-HAUL) per yard WARRENTON FIBER 8am-5pm 861-3305 Mon-Fri, 389 NW 13th St., Warrenton Magellan’s Navigator – Kenneth D. Schultz Olympicvista Pub- lishing – 270 pp - $9.99/paperback, $6.50/Kindle from the perspective of the captain’s fi rst mate. Out of the hundreds of sailors who began the voyage, Francisco Albo was one of only 18 men who came back aboard the sole ship that actually completed the circumnavi- gation. Working from what Schultz purports are recently discovered journals written in Albo’s own hand, the author reconstructs the three-year voyage – from crew recruit- ment, through tumultuous days in uncharted waters, to ragged return. Greed, fear, distrust and frustration run as rampant on the voyage as the rats that scuttle through the ships’ holds. While Magellan’s sailing Sea Trials – Wendy Hinman Salsa Press – 434 pages - $20/paper- back, $5.99/eBook acumen is admirable, Albo looks on helplessly as his captain makes fatal mistakes in the management of his own men and in his encoun- ters with other cultures. Reminiscent of other sea- faring books such as “Two Years Before the Mast,” “Magellan’s Navigator” is unsentimental, muscular writing, packed with tension and adventure. Four hundred years later, the only kind of spice Chuck and Dawn Wilcox seek as they leave the West Coast on their 40-foot sailboat is the spice of life: foreign countries, exotic cultures, adventure! They’re taking their kids along with them; 14-year-old Garth is eager to take to the high seas, while younger sister Linda moves from initial skepticism about the plan to outright resent- ment. Four decades later, Garth’s wife, Wendy Hin- man, recounts her in-laws’ adventures in “Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire.” The family dallies in Tonga and the Seychelles, the Greek isles and Madeira, but, as the book’s subtitle suggests, just as much of their time seems to be taken up with regular maintenance and impromptu boat repair. Even with signifi cant ad- vance preparation, the Wilcox family suffers unanticipated mishaps along the way: sharks, quicksand, minefi elds, even their own shipwreck. Their planned four-year voy- age turns into fi ve years. And family ties are strained to the breaking point. A Bainbridge Island-based author and herself a sail- or who has logged many thousands of miles of ocean sailing, Hinman writes with affection and empathy about the people who eventually became her family. Readers may have less patience with the family dynamics, but this is still a remarkable story about perseverance. The Bookmonger is Bar- bara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column fo- cusing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com
