The Seven Seat: A True Story of Rowing, Revenge, and Redemption

by Daniel J. Boyne author of "The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning, and the Water

Overview

Harvard University coach and acclaimed rowing author, Dan Boyne, tells a humorous story of his first year of freshman crew, including a sub plot of personal redemption against an insufferable football player who has bullied him throughout high school.

After being accepted at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, Boyne decides to take up rowing, the only sport that takes place far off campus, on the adventurous waters of The Connecticut River. There, he quickly experiences the unique rigors, rewards, and colorful personalities of the sport, not knowing that his nemesis has decided to try out for crew, at rival school Coast Guard Academy.

As racing season approaches, Boyne becomes part of an exceptional freshman lightweight boat, with high hopes to win the National Championships in Philadelphia that year, but his final fears are realized when he discovers that his old high school archenemy is also doing well, and rowing in the very same position as he is—the seven seat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493043552
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/23/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Daniel J. Boyne is the author of Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest (Mystic Seaport/Lyons); The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning, and the Water (Hyperion/Lyons); and Essential Sculling (Lyons). In 2008, he was awarded first prize in the category of biography in the Premier Book Awards (Kelly), and The Red Rose Crew earned a starred Kirkus Review and became a Boston Globe bestseller in 2001. His essays have appeared in numerous magazines, including The Atlantic, Harvard Magazine, and Gray’s Sporting Journal. He is a frequent contributor to the internationally acclaimed rowing website, row2k.com. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 The Walk On 1

Chapter 2 Beatings Make You Stronger 7

Chapter 3 This Boathouse Is Protected by Helios Rays 13

Chapter 4 The Recalcitrant Coxswain 21

Chapter 5 Big Bad Erg 25

Chapter 6 Heavies vs. Lights 33

Chapter 7 A Woman of Substance 39

Chapter 8 Sisters 45

Chapter 9 Celibacy 51

Chapter 10 Musical Chairs 57

Chapter 11 Blind Faith 63

Chapter 12 Boys to Men 71

Chapter 13 Dress Rehearsal 81

Chapter 14 The Ghost Boat 89

Chapter 15 Close Call at Coast Guard 95

Chapter 16 The Stern Pair 107

Chapter 17 Culture Clash at Columbia 113

Chapter 18 Henry Cropsey's Hidden Talent 119

Chapter 19 Football Players 127

Chapter 20 The Winds of Waramaug 135

Chapter 21 The City of Brotherly Love 143

Chapter 22 Prerace Rituals 149

Chapter 23 A Good Victory Lasts Forever 155

Chapter 24 All Rivers Lead to the Sea 163

Epilogue 167

Acknowledgments 171

Index 173

Editorial Reviews

With Dan Boyne’s books The Red Rose Crew and Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest, he proved to be an author who knows how to tell good rowing stories. Now, Boyne is back with a new rowing tale, The Seven Seat: A True Story of Rowing, Redemption, and Revenge, a work that he himself calls “creative non-fiction,” in which he takes a more active role as both a narrator and a character. Boyne shows in this wonderful “saga” that he is a master of portraying American rowing history—whether it’s about a famous women’s crew, an American rowing legend, or rowing at Trinity College, Hartford, in the 1970s.

Göran R. Buckhorn

The Red Rose Crew earned a starred Kirkus Review and became a Boston Globe bestseller in 2001.

,
In 2008, Dan was awarded first prize in the category of biography in the Premier Book Awards for Kelly.

,
Motion picture rights in The Red Rose Crew have been sold, and the script is now being written.

From the Publisher

The Seven Seat is a must have for your rowing library. Dan Boyne beautifully captures the thrill of being the ‘newbie' - new to college, (an elite college, no less), new to taking the top bunk in a small dorm room, new to competitive rowing. In this work of ‘creative non-fiction,’ Dan describes college rowing, ’70’s style: leaden boats, wooden oars, cotton t-shirts, and no Concept II ergs. Score one! But that’s just the beginning. Read on. You’ll be glad you did.

Brad Alan Lewis

Beautifully written, Dan Boyne’s The Seven Seat, illuminates the redemptive power of rowing. A period piece set at Trinity College in the seventies, the themes are as relevant today as ever. I can’t help but believe that Dan’s storytelling prowess derives from his experience rowing in the seven seat. He translates life’s rhythm with technical precision and great timing. Through the lens of collegiate rowing, Dan’s newest book is a perfect catch.

Carie Brand Graves

With a droll voice that is as smooth and brisk as a river at dawn, Dan Boyne not only tells the story of a heated rivalry, but also imparts the magic of reinventing oneself through a time-honored sport whose tribal quality is the envy those outside its closed community. It’s also an at-times a hilarious memoir of college life in the 1970s Animal house meets the boathouse in this trim and well-rowed story.

Rick Rinehart

With Dan Boyne’s books The Red Rose Crew and Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest, he proved to be an author who knows how to tell good rowing stories. Now, Boyne is back with a new rowing tale, The Seven Seat: A True Story of Rowing, Redemption, and Revenge, a work that he himself calls “creative non-fiction,” in which he takes a more active role as both a narrator and a character. Boyne shows in this wonderful “saga” that he is a master of portraying American rowing history—whether it’s about a famous women’s crew, an American rowing legend, or rowing at Trinity College, Hartford, in the 1970s.

Göran R. Buckhorn