1. The Ledge By: Lawrence Sargent Hall
Courtney Churms Reuben Hyppolite Julian Navarro Janice Nieves

2. Lawrence Sargent Hall Personal History
Born: April 23, 1915 in Haverhill MA
Advocate of the arts in Maine
Appointed on the Governors Council of the Arts and Culture in Maine
Married Margaret Mellor in 1934, Divorced 1954
Two children Lawrence and Marion
Married Marcia Skillings in 1954,
Married Janice Tracey Nelson McCarthy in 1981, died 1990
Died: October 28, 1993 in Orr’s, Harpswell, ME

3. Lawrence Sargent Hall

4. Lawrence Sargent Hall Professional Life
Graduation from Bowdoin College in 1936
Received PHD in English from Yale University in 1941
Direction of Censorship Intelligence Unit of the office of Strategic Services in 1942
Served to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the US Naval Reserve from
Taught at several educational facilities including Deerfield Academy in Yale and Bowdoin College from
Visiting professor at Columbia University in 1956
Published his Faulkner Award-winning Novel Stowaway in 1961
Retired as a Henry Leland Chapman Professor in 1986

5. The Ledge Maine Location
Brown Cow Island is a 26 acre island in Hancock County, Maine
Hancock County has the most extensive seaboard and more numerous harbors than nay other coast of equal extent in the United States
The Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic Ocean are located off the coast
There are 1,532 small islands in Hancock County

7. The Ledge Based on a True Story
On December 27, 1956, a hunting party of five set out from Ash Point in South Harpswell, Maine to go gunning for ducks between Eagle Island and West Brown Island.
The big fisherman known as Buster Estes, Jr. skippered his boat the Amy E. with son Steven, 13, son Maurice, 12, nephew Harry Jewell and fellow fisherman Everett Gatchell on board.
Skiffs were on board the boat and they separated in two groups. Estes and the two young boys marooned on the ledge near West Brown Cow as the freezing tide was coming in. All three perished.
Only two came home alive.

8. The Ledge Plot Summary
On Christmas morning a Fisherman, his son, his nephew and his dog anticipate a day of hunting sea ducks near Brown Cow Island
After a good days hunt, the fisherman goes to find the Skiff has floated away
The tide begins to rise but the nearest island is too far to swim
The family shoots the remaining shot gun shells to gain other attention with no success
Fisherman holds the family close and places his son on his shoulders when the tide gets higher
The dog swims to death in the icy water, Nephew is taken by the chilly sea, and the skiff is found with the fisherman's corpse the next day

9. The Ledge Themes Masculinity Control Man vs. Nature Gender Roles
Family Relationships
Life and Death
Survival

10. The Ledge Connections to the Author
Hall lived by the ocean
Halls writings concerned people acting under pressure and his protagonists are always uncommunicative men’s men, who are skilled at their professions but unskilled at interpersonal relationships
The story written in 1960 shows newer more dark realism that happened after America had time to process atrocities that had happened in the war and a sense of fear that is brought forward by artists.
The influence of guns in the story is explained by his history in the military
His numerous wives are reflected by the wife character in the story