Point Pleasant Historical Society
Box 1273, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
Telephone:732) 892-6414
SUBJECT: The Voyage of an Irish 'Famine Ship' Recreated. 81-year-old Brielle resident will tell the Point Pleasant Historical Society of his adventure.
"The first ten days were sheer Hell," Tom Kindre remembers. On a very stormy February day this year, the 81-year-old Brielle resident began his adventure crossing the North Atlantic as a crew member on the Jeannie Johnston, a replica of an Irish "famine Ship." It had taken some doing to talk the organizers into letting him sign on at his age. And shortly after the ship left the west coast of Ireland this experienced sailor was experiencing seasickness for the first time ever, as was most of the crew.
At the next meeting of the Point Pleasant Historical Society, 7:30 p.m., Monday, October 13, at the Woman' Club, 513 St. Louis Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, Kindre will lecture and show slides about his 59 day trip and about the original ship that brought his grandmother over in 1863. That vessel, unlike many so-called "coffin ships," never saw a passenger die in its 16 crossings. He will give background on the historical conditions that precipitated the great Irish migration. His book Jeannie Johnston: A Voyage Against All Odds (Trafford Publishing), will be available for purchase.
Tom Kindre is a retired magazine editor and public relations executive. He has been a speechwriter, advertising copywriter, and corporate communications specialist. He is a founder of the Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II and President of the Rutgers Living History Society. He is an officer in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and sails his ketch off the Jersey coast and Chesapeake.
The Point Pleasant Historical Society can be reached by telephone at (732) 892-3091; by e-mail at
; or by mail at Box 1273, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742.