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Michael J. Tougias, author and professional storyteller, came to speak to middle school students at the EMS on Monday, November 7, 2022. Tougias is the author of 30 books, seven of which are about rescues at sea and one of which was turned into a Disney movie that can be viewed on Netflix, The Final Hours, starring Chris Pine and Casey Aflleck. Tougias prepared a captivating presentation that detailed the harrowing sea rescue of boats off of the coast of Manchester, MA and in Gloucester Harbor during the Blizzard of 1978. He wrote two books based off of these events that unfolded during the blizzard, Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do and a young adult version of the book, Into the Blizzard: Heroism at Sea During the Great Blizzard of 1978. 

Blizzard of 1978

Tougias first described the main characters in his book, Captain Frank Quirk and Charlie Bucko, who heroically manned the Can Do during the night that they found themselves trapped and without working radar in the Blizzard of 1978. Tougias talked about how the storm formed and became an unprecedented weather system that destroyed the Massachusetts coastline. “It was essentially a winter hurricane”, said Tougias, where heavy snow compounded with 100 mile an hour winds made it one of the most memorable storms in Massachusetts history. Tougias then outlined the rough course that the Can Do took that night and chronicled the hour-by-hour harrowing details of the story to survive.

Becoming a Writer

During the question and answer session, middle school students were eager to ask Mr. Tougias about his journey to becoming an author and about his writing process. He said that he was an avid reader all throughout his life, although not always the best student. Tougias started writing articles and then regional books before he took a great leap of faith, quit his full-time job, and wrote Ten Hours, which went on to become a national bestseller.

Advice For Writers

Tougias’ advice aligns well with how Landmark teaches writing- the prewriting phase of brainstorming and organizing your research followed by methodically working through a rough draft, in his case chapter by chapter, as to not make it overwhelming. He also talked about the benefits of stepping away from your work before beginning the editing phase. His favorite step in the whole process is conducting research and interviews. “It’s like a treasure hunt”, he says, where he’s always trying to figure out that missing piece of the story. Tougias’ captivating stories and his practical advice for middle schoolers were well-received by all in attendance.