Robin Lloyd's early years were spent on the island of St. Croix, where his parents owned a dairy farm and milk plant. As a boy, he grew up sailing in the Caribbean. Lloyd was a foreign correspondent for NBC News for many years, where he reported mostly from Latin America and Africa. He also covered the White House during the Reagan and Bush administrations. Lloyd has created and produced news programs with foreign networks as well as documentaries and segments for domestic stations, including Maryland Public Television. Among his prestigious awards are four Emmys from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay region and an Overseas Press Award. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. “Robin Lloyd is a great reporter, and he has shaped meticulous research into a rollicking story of the sea and the tall ships that sailed the North Atlantic in the 1800s. Amazingly, he hadn't planned to write a novel when he began reading about his ancestor, Elisha Ely Morgan—who knew everyone of his day, from Charles Dickens to Queen Victoria. We can be glad that the more [Lloyd] read, the more he realized he had the makings of a fine story.” — Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent, CBS News