The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-12-12
STORY OF HONORS
MacNElLL WON BY
THE HATTERASMAN.
By MYRTLE M. DANIELS

l
Lord Ocracoke, Mr.. Wahab, is
not the only Islander who has a
shiny goblet to cherish. Ben Dixon
MacNeill, author of "The Hat
terasman", received the Mayflower
Cup from the hands of former
President Truman in Raleigh Fri
day night.
81 hope you will enjoy it,, quip-
ped Mr.. Truman to Mr.. MacNeill.
There was spontaneous laughter
and a big round of applause in
the jam-packed auditorium.
Raleigh was UP to it's neck in
culture last week. Art societies,
historical societies, folklore So
cieties and such have been going
full force, and they climxed their
meetings in an atmosphere of
great excitement. Mr.. Truman
spoke on the most mistreated
president, Andrew Johnson, a ma
tive North Carolinian. Immediate
ly following, Mrs. Preston B.
Wilkes, Jr. of Charlotte, President
of the Mayflower Society, present
ed the award to Mr.. MacNeill,
requesting that Mr.. Truman hand
the cup to the author.
Mrs. Wilkes explained the choice
of Mr. McaNeill's book, "The
Hatterasman" as the best non-fic-
ton work of the year by North
Carolinian. Source material, style
of writing and interest to the peo-
pie of our state, were among the
winning points mentioned.
Winning the Mayflower Cup is
one of the highest honors that
could come to person, and Mr..
MacNeill rich deserves the honor.
We are justly proud of him.
In response, he gave the very
same speech delivered by his
cousin, John Charles MacNeill,
when he, too, won the Mayflower
Cup fifty-three years ago, receiv-
ing it from the hands of another
President, Theodore Roosevelt.
Mr.. MacNeill has long wanted
to win the Mayflower Cup and
is happy to have it, but he says
it is not his greatest reward. The
really great reward, aside from
the satisfaction of achievement, is
less tangible, a thing of the heart
and soul. 1t is the Hatteras peo-
pies love for the book he wrote
about them.
To write book about people
and still continue to live among
them in harmony is a bit out of
the ordinary. Well, the reader soon
discovers why. The author is
honest.
I would like to give "The Hat
terasman" to everyone | love for
a Christmas present. The book is
a masterpiece of it's kind and is
going to live. There is no doubt
about it. Tt is fascinating book.
1t is neither history, geo.
graphy, a geology text, biogra-
ply, a novel, a drama, nor poem.
1t is everything, a pot pourri of
pure delight. 1t is informative,
medley of both fact and fiction
spun with compassion and with al
ways a trickle of humor.
Those of US who have had a
Misunderstanding acquaintance, with
hurricanes and tides, understand
the beauty of Mr.. MacNeili's de-
scription. l shall like to remember
the sea as a woman, one of temp
Ornamental moods, the tender trib-
ute to blade of grass, the dyke
of twigs, the WIND that owns
everything, that gives, takes away
grabs giant live-oak by the
scruff of his neck and breaks his
back, moves sand dunes and rules
such giants as the Hatteras man.
"The Hatterasman" has, immor-
talized the SURFMAN, whose title
is not to be confused with that of
sailor, seaman, or other mariners
Mr.. MacNeill is aware of the
WITNESSES and power of natures
giants. /, too, have been awed by
the calm deceptiveness of a sleep
ing sea on the morning after a
raging hurricane.
And now, the North Carolina
descendants of the sea-faring pas
sengers aboard the Mayflowel
have awarded Ben Dixon MacNeill
a cup that will out-match the one
he so ably describes in "The Hat
terasman", the one Mr.. Wahab in
herited from ancestor Howard
Pirate Blackbeard's quartermaster
aboard the good ship, "Queen
Anne's Revenge"