PREVIEW OF MICHAEL SMITH’S ‘ERNEST SHACKLETON – THE MAN AND THE MYTHS’ – 17th Sept, Richmond Town Hall

Once again, we are delighted to be supporting Richmond’s Walking and Book Festival. Not only have our students designed the posters to promote the event, but they have also been busy researching some of the events. We are pleased to bring you the first preview by Sophia O’Callaghan, in Year 12.

Michael Smith will be at Richmond Town Hall on Sunday 17th September at 7:30pm. Tickets are only £10 and can be booked here. Refreshments and a book stall will be available and the venue has disabled access.  Please enjoy Sophia’s blog below.

Michael Smith – ‘Ernest Shackleton – The Man and the Myth’

On the 8th of August, 1914, the Endurance embarked on its final voyage. Captained by Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led his crew of 27 on a voyage to the Antarctic, the ship’s name would become an omen for the determination and grit the crew would have to face on their odyssey, living up to the Shackleton family motto of ‘fortitudine vincimus’ – ‘by endurance, we conquer’. Shackleton himself would cement his name in history through his harrowing journey of loss, rescue and frostbite. This history has been brought to light once more, as has the ship itself, through the discovery of the wreckage in March last year.

This ‘Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition’ was the most famous of his four expeditions to the Antarctic, each equally noteworthy, as Shackleton would go on to become the predominant face of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration – both on his voyages and his various public appearances at home as a public hero. Facing turbulence in both his seafaring and personal life, Michael Smith, writer of numerous bestsellers on polar expeditions, aims to delve into this complex character. Author and muse are inextricably linked through time – outside the Royal Geographical Society, the prestigious establishment where Michael Smith has lectured, there stands a statue of Ernest Shackleton.

Looking retrospectively at his childhood, Shackleton noted that he ‘never learned much geography at school’, and looking at his life, it is clear that the most important lessons he learnt were brought about by experience. Place yourself in Shackleton’s leather hobnail boots and learn from experience as Michael Smith transports you through the life of this legendary figure from the comfort of Richmond Town Hall on Sunday, the 17th of September.