Part maritime history, part memoir, Randall Sullivan's Graveyard of the Pacific plunges into the terrifying waters of the Columbia River Bar, the notorious spot where thousands of ships have been wrecked. Sullivan combines intense research on these historical tragedies with a personal narrative of his own attempt to cross the bar, facing the same deadly currents that defined the lives—and deaths—of countless sailors. Randall’s presentation will focus on how he came to live on the Oregon Coast and his writing process of his thrilling book.  

Randall Sullivan was a Contributing Editor at Rolling Stone Magazine for 23 years, and a Contributing Editor at Men’s Journal for eight years, who has written also for Esquire, Wired, Outside, Guardian and the Washington Post, among many other publications. Sullivan is the author of ten books. Four of them, including Graveyard of the Pacific, have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Sullivan’s books have been the basis of the film City of Lies starring Johnny Depp and Forrest Whitaker (who played Sullivan), the Oprah Winfrey Network show “Miracle Detectives”, which Sullivan hosted and executive produced, and of both the original and the remake of the television movie “Death of a Cheerleader.” He is perhaps best known to the general public for his bestselling book The Curse of Oak Island, and for his work on the hugely popular television show (now in its thirteenth season) of the same name, on which Sullivan worked as a cast member for one season and has made regular guest appearances in subsequent seasons. Biography provided by Grove-Atlantic Publishing.

Graveyard of the Pacific, book cover