Hugo Kugiya

Hugo Kugiya has worked as a journalist for fifteen years, reporting for the Orlando Sentinel, the Seattle Times, and Newsday, among others. His 2001 series on the sinking of the Arctic Rose won Newsday's Publisher's Award. He lives in Seattle with his daughter. 

58 DEGREES NORTH: THE MYSTERIOUS SINKING OF THE ARCTIC ROSE (2005)

In the spring of 2001, an industrial fishing trawler went down in the icy waters just below the Arctic Circle, with its position last recorded at 58 degrees north. The Arctic Rose sank so abruptly that there was not even time to put on survival suits or call for help, and all fifteen men aboard were killed. Hugo Kugiya's book is a powerful story of adventure and disaster, illuminating how the modern industrial fishing industry gave rise to these fifteen young men's dangerous and strangely archaic life, and tracing the Coast Guard investigation into what really sank the Arctic Rose. 

"Highly readable... the portraits of the doomed fishermen-Capt. Dave Randall, Mexican immigrant Angel Mendez (seen mostly through the eyes of his widow), amiable drifter Eddie Haynes-grip and fascinate...Bound to suck in maritime buffs."—Publishers Weekly 

"Kugiya ably reconstructs events and characters...a crew fit for a World War II film, all facing a cruel sea."—Hollywood Reporter 

"Sympathetic to the difficulties that fishermen face but not sentimental, Kugiya puts a human face on an assortment of drifters, illegal aliens, and small businessmen, all hard-working men who turned to the sea for escape or a means to a new start. An intriguing look into one of the most dangerous occupations in America."—Library Journal

"An eye-opening tale of a modern maritime disaster and its tortuous aftermath."—Kirkus Reviews

Rights: Bloomsbury, North America