Who Is John Maynard: The Tale of the Steamer "Erie"
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 from 4 PM to 5:30 PM
In the 1800s, any news from America was exciting, including horrific accounts. One such event was the conflagration of the steamer "The Erie", which left 270 dead, most of them German immigrants. Inspired, novelist Theodor Fontane wrote his bestselling poem "John Maynard", a larger-than-life rendition of the true helmsman Luther Fuller. The work has been on many reading lists to the point that Buffalo erected a historical marker dedicated to John Maynard. Discover a heroic saga and how literature and a real event created an enduring fable across the ocean.
