Port of Call: Memories of an Ancient Mariner

In Port of Call, a long-awaited sequel to Mollee Kruger’s memoir,( The Cobbler’s Last), the 90-year-old poet/essayist turns to her travels as a 20th century female writer and dwells on the myriad distractions that can keep women authors (and men too) from reaching their ports of call. As a small-town homebody who never expected to venture beyond the murky confines of industrial Baltimore harbor, the author invites readers to share her quirky adventures in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia. En route, she lands in a wacky advertising agency and must choose between marrying or following a career that may lead nowhere. Mollee Kruger has written more than an ordinary travel book; it is a humorous but deeply wise exploration of life’s destinations along the way. Funny and compassionate, Kruger lets her readers know that she has clocked a staggering number of knots (miles for landlubbers.) Port of Call successfully navigates the choppy seas of advertising, journalism, poetry, and politics as well as marriage and homemaking. Tying it all together is a powerful love story that summons the reader to a hopeful and welcoming shore.