When a young man looks for his place in the world...

In his 20s in the early 1970s, Mickey Maguire sought his dream place in a cabin in Nova Scotia. Among other renegades from civilization, he built his cabin from trees he felled on his purchased property, and intermittently sought work to provide for himself in his retreat in the woods. With no commercial fishing experience, he was surprisingly hired to work on a fishing vessel out of Provincetown.

Feather White is his tale of strength, inventiveness, and discovery in a world at first foreign to a kid in his 20s from Atlantic City, NJ. It’s a soulful, humorous, heartfelt journey, extremely well-told. From working on unforgiving seas, first as an insulted rookie and then as a trusted deckhand (and later, cook), Maguire acquired skills, physical and emotional, that propelled him toward adult life. The days and nights in the lovingly built cabin in Nova Scotia, often among others living off the grid, gave him peace and pride of place.

Feather White is more than a saga, a chronicle of events and experiences. In the spirt of the best adventure writers and beyond, with humor and extraordinary insights into people, places, and himself, Mickey Maguire takes the reader along. You can smell the sea, feel the roll of the ship, and sense the warm glow of the kerosene lamp in the Nova Scotia cabin. It’s a wonderful journey. Read it. Feather White is a gem of a discovery.

Feather White
Mickey Maguire

Feather White is a must-read book. No, it is not on the New York Times Best Seller list, yet your bookshelf will forever be incomplete without this read. Mickey Maguire led a charmed life but not in the usual way. On many pages within this book, he surely faces death, occasionally with bravery, all the time displaying the best side of life in love, marriage, friendship, travel and music. The reader becomes attached to Mickey like he is one of your family. Feather White relates many of the month-long tours on the high seas, riding mountainous waves, living on fishing trawlers, working 12 to 18 hour shifts of back braking, hand wrenching work. To get an up-close look at life at sea mixed with living in Nova Scotia … in a hand-built log cabin I might add … while surviving the Woodstock lifestyle, read Feather White.

Mickey Maguire writes his poignant memoir in the first person, but in reading his story, I sensed that the story was not about the person, but about the journey....a compelling journey that takes us through his enthralling life from ocean trawlers to cabin building. It is a journey that is outside my realm and yet so personal. He walks us through his youth and into the man he has become. His words invite us to relive our own coming of age story which resides forever in the back of our heads. Being friends with the man Mickey has become, his lovely wife and daughter, I could hear his voice as he told his story. His passion for life, his humor and warmth for humanity is front and center in every chapter.

This well-written book is greater than the sum of its parts. The author's voice comes alive and relates the story of his adventurous early adult years - challenging himself and creating a foundation of "can do" for life. Truly inspiring I-don't-want-to-put-this-down book!

my buddy mickey was the original m&m long before eminem and a hellava banjo player! i just read his book “feather white” and i couldn’t put it down…..it’s filled with adventure, drama, levity and love. i highly recommend the book and i hope it soars!

jim tullio