New York Times bestselling author Michael J. Tougias will be in Wareham on May 12th to benefit the Wareham Free Library. His book, The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue will be the topic of discussion. The heroic tale was made into a nationally acclaimed movie starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck and released in theaters earlier this year. Tougias co-authored the book with Casey Sherman. He is also the author and co-author of 24 books, many of them on sea disasters and survival.

The dramatic rescue in The Finest Hours takes place in the winter of 1952 during one of New England’s most brutal nor’easters. Two oil tankers caught in the storm split in two leaving dozens of men on board at the ocean’s mercy. Coast Guard cutters raced to the scene from Cape Cod in seventy-foot seas and rescued many of the sailors who were adrift in the Atlantic Ocean.

The evening will begin at the Wareham Free Library with a reception, lecture and book signing at 5:00 pm and is free and open to the public. Mr. Tougias will present an exciting slide show of his research that will take the audience into the center of the nor'easter and the Coast Guard's heroic rescue.

A gourmet dinner with the author will follow at the Marriott’s Rosebrook Event Center, Cranberry Highway, West Wareham with reservations required.  Bring your family and friends and reserve a table for eight! Reservations are $100, and seats at the author’s table are $1000. One-hundred percent of the dinner receipts will be directly donated to the Library.  Reservations may be made by mail to Wareham Library Foundation, PO Box 485, East Wareham, MA or online at  http://www.supportwarehamlibrary.org/    Email wflvolunteers@gmail.com or call 508-295-2134 for more information.