Stede Bonnet Charleston's Gentleman Pirate

Available May 15th on Amazon

Someone once told me "money can’t buy happiness, but it sure finances a hell of an illusion."  I get the idea, but it doesn’t take me long to come up with a quick list of unhappy people with money too shoot the theory down.

Clinton and I attended a lecture at Charleston's Powder Magazine by the author of 
Stede Bonnet Charleston’s Gentleman Pirate.

Captain Christopher Byrd Downey poses the question, what would happen if we pursued the fantasy of leaving our every day jobs in favor of taking to the sea for a life of as a pirate? In 1717 Stede Bonnet, a wealthy planter in Barbados sailed away from his wife and children to do just that. After being a mediocre (at best) pirate captain, Stede meets his super hero, the famous pirate Black Beard.

The story ends in the romantic Charleston Battery, with a not so romantic image of pirates in the tide.