Early Life and Education more less
John Pierce Rousmaniere (pronounced "Room-an-ear") was born in Louisville, Kentucky on March 10, 1944. He is the oldest of the eight children of James Ayer Rousmaniere, of Boston and New York, and of Jessie Broaddus Pierce Rousmaniere, of Louisville and Brownsville, Texas, the daughter of a U.S. Army general. He is a descendant of a French soldier who fought for the American side in the American Revolution and the Easton family that co-founded Newport, Rhode Island. He spent his early years in Cincinnati, Ohio, and at age 11 moved with his family to Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York. He is an alumnus of St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire (1962); Columbia University (B.S. 1967, M.A. 1968); and Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (M.Div., 1988).
Professional Career more less
After U.S. Army service, during which he taught history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Rousmaniere was an editor at Yachting and Natural History magazines before becoming a freelance writer in 1978. He worked out of his home in Stamford, Conn., where he was a single parent caring for his sons, William and Dana, before moving to Manhattan in 2005.
Rousmaniere writes on a wide range of topics but is best known for his books on storms at sea, yachting history, and sailing instruction, particularly The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, which has gone through three editions since its initial publication in 1983. A video series of the same title is based on the book. Fastnet, Force 10 (1980) is the account of the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race in which he sailed and 15 sailors died. Published in several languages and still in print in 2010, this was the first of his storm books. It was followed in 2002 by After the Storm: True Stories of Disaster and Recovery at Sea, about the causes and consequences of storms at sea as seen through biographies of sailors and seamen, stories of gales and wrecks, and Rousmaniere's own experiences. These concerns had led him to attend Union Theological Seminary, where he earned the Master of Divinity degree in 1988.
Rousmaniere has sailed more than 40,000 miles, including nine Newport Bermuda Races (two in the second-place boat), two Fastnet Races, three transatlantic races or cruises, other long races or cruises, and extensive day racing that included winning championships. His sailing experience, and his writing about the 1979 Fastnet storm, led Rousmaniere to speak at or moderate more than 100 safety at sea, seamanship, or Suddenly Alone seminars under the aegis of the U.S. Sailing Association and North U (the educational arm of North Sails). Rousmaniere co-organized the Crew Overboard Rescue Seminar at Sausalito, Cal., in 2005 and wrote its final report recommending rescue equipment and skills.. He is the coordinator of the Hanson Rescue Medal Award presented by U.S. Sailing.
Besides safety at sea, Rousmaniere frequently lectures on maritime history and New York history.
Rousmaniere has written a number of history books. Topics include the America's Cup (three books), the Newport Bermuda Race, the New York Yacht Club (founded in 1844), the Fishers Island Yacht Club, the Shelter Island Yacht Club (forthcoming), the classic yacht Bolero, and a history of international yachting titled The Golden Pastime. He has also written about maritime photography (Sleek and A Picture History of the America's Cup). For many years he was Consulting Editor of The Dolphin Book Club, the maritime division of the Book of the Month Club. His book reviews appear in Sea History, Cruising World, and other publications.
His non-boating books include histories of Davis Polk & Wardwell (a law firm), the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and the Piping Rock country club (forthcoming). Rousmaniere’s writings about New York City include a history of settlement houses (his Columbia M.A. thesis). His recent Green Oasis in Brooklyn is an illustrated history of a large, classic 160-year-old cemetery on the Brooklyn-Queens border. He has contributed 40 essays to the 2nd edition (2010) edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City.
He has edited several books, including All This and Sailing, Too, the autobiography of the yacht designer Olin J. Stephens II, (Mystic Seaport, 1999); Dennis Conner's autobiography No Excuse to Lose; The Enduring Great Lakes, on the ecology of the Great Lakes; Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts; and Michael Levitt, Herding Tigers: The North Sails Story (North Sails, 2009).
In television and video, Rousmaniere has written the scripts for several sailing shows produced by Gary Jobson for ESPN and other outlets. In 2002-03 he was the writer for the Outdoor Life Network's coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup run-up to the America's Cup match in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2007 he was a commentator on the America's Cup match at Valencia, Spain, on a Silversea Cruise Line ship. He has been interviewed for historical documentaries and was co-writer of a documentary on the Beatles, The Compleat Beatles.
Rousmaniere was media chair for the 47th Newport Bermuda Race in 2010, writing and editing daily coverage of the race for its website, http://bermudarace.com/, and the international press. He has written columns on seamanship for Sailing World magazine and the online publication SailNet, http://www.sailnet.com. He regularly contributes to Cruising World, Scuttlebutt, Sail World, and other web and print publications (SEE "ARTICLES, ETC." BELOW) and has been interviewed on NPR and in print publications.
Encyclopedias to which he has contributed (also serving as an editor) include The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History, The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers, The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, and The Encyclopedia of New York City.
His memberships include the Century Association, the Cruising Club of America, the New York Yacht Club, and the Authors Guild. He serves on the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee, the Selection Committee of the America's Cup Hall of Fame (which he has chaired), and the Safety at Sea Committee of U.S. Sailing. A member of the U.S. Olympic Yachting Committee from 1977—84, he chaired the 1980 Sailing Olympic Trials. In 2010 the Cruising Club of America awarded Rousmaniere its Richard S. Nye Trophy for meritorious service. Rousmaniere has taught writing at the College of New Rochelle and Union Theological Seminary. In the 1990s he worked in the business development office of the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Rousmaniere resides in Manhattan with his wife, Leah Ruth Robinson Rousmaniere, a development officer, mystery novelist, historian of tea, and the author of the history of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey.
John Rousmaniere may be contacted through Facebook or Linkedin.
