Retired Recertified Steward Lois Ware knows plenty about overcoming obstacles and achieving goals.She is a cancer survivor.
She is believed to be the first woman to sail as a crew member on a U.S. West Coast-based freighter (the President Van Buren).
Now, she has added another title: published author.
Ware’s first book, “The Rose and the Sea: Sea Stories,” is available through the web site www.authorhouse.com. Produced in paperback, the book contains 88 pages and sells for $11.50.
A promotional release describes the book as providing “an overarching look at her life, from her childhood and school experiences to her lifelong love affair with the salty winds and on-board life of the maritime industry.”
In an interview last month with the Seafarers LOG, Ware, who comes from a family of Seafarers, said that writing a book had been a longtime goal. “I wanted people to know what life at sea is like,” she noted. “The book was more work than I expected. It seems like I rewrote it nine or 10 times, but I hope to write another one—maybe a mystery or some poetry, if it’s worthwhile.”
Ware sailed with the NMU in the early 1970s before signing on with the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, which later merged into the SIU. She retired due to health issues in 1994.
If writing was a labor of love, sailing couldn’t have been more natural for Ware, considering the Alabama native’s bloodlines. Her uncle, Thomas F. Ware, was one of the more than 1,200 Seafarers who gave his life in World War II. At various times, her son, nephew and brother all sailed with the SIU.
“My life was going to sea,” she recalled. “I’ve always regretted having to leave the industry so soon…. To the people just entering this profession, I would say, set a goal and don’t listen to what people say you cannot do. You will achieve your goal and be successful.”
Ware, who has been cancer-free for 10 years, last sailed aboard the President Truman. She said that the Seafarers-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education is a great asset for mariners who want to advance in their careers. “I love the school,” Ware stated.
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