Research Associate James White

Storylandia 24 Research Associate James White

The vision haunted him the rest of his life - a sailboat capsized, people bobbing helplessly in the cold Atlantic, their cries fading in the wake of the luxury liner that was taking him to Europe. Twelve year old Bridge Appleton weeps when his father ushers him away from the gruesome scene to join his family for dinner on the luxurious SS Normandie. He begs his father to alert the captain, only to be admonished for annoying his mother and upsetting the evening's festivities. Bridge obediently accepts his parent's wishes, but he doesn't forget. Now a young man living in 1930s Los Angeles, Bridge overcomes his fears, his friend's disapproval and the warnings from his mother and buys his own sailboat. Swept into a romantic dream, far removed from reality, Bridge envisions a care-free, seafaring life shared with his friends and his girl, Charlene, until reality catches up with him and thrusts him back to the catastrophic vision of his youth, nearly taking his friends with him.