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Pageonelit.com: Where did
you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life.
Who were your earliest influences and why?
Lawrence A. Marsden: I grew
up in a small town in Southwestern Minnesota, eight miles north
of the Iowa border and 15 miles east of the South Dakota border.
Luverne was an agricultural community formed by homesteaders
in the early 1870’s, both of my grandfathers and grandmothers
being a part of that early group. My father died in the influenza
epidemic of 1918, five months before I was born. Raised by my
mother and great aunt, both of whom were well-educated women,
I was exposed literally from day one to books and music. Since
radio was in its infancy, reading was truly my only form of mental
relaxation. By the time I was in the fourth grade, during the
long summer vacations I was reading up to seven books a week.
My earliest influences were my mother, my great aunt and my teachers.
The late twenties was a time when money was plentiful and I saw
and heard with great interest the first radio in town - an Atwater
Kent - with a front panel featuring four large dials all of which
had to be painstakingly tuned before you heard even one word
coming from the single set of earphones. All else that you heard
were screeches and squawks. Crude as it was, it seemed like a
miracle.
By the time I reached high school, the economy had done a complete
flip flop, the Great Depression was on in full force, the equally
great draught was devastating the surrounding farm land, and
much of South Dakota was blowing our way. I recall several days
when it was almost dark at noon because of the dirt in the air.
In spite of this, people in the farming communities survived
with no one going hungry, and people were always ready to help
neighbors who did get into trouble.
Writing has always been a part of my life. I took
all of the creative writing classes offered me as an undergraduate
at the University of 
Minnesota, submitted some
short stories, two of which received awards. Learned reportorial
writing in a job I held as Director of Public Relations for the
Interfraternity Council. Law School taught me writing disciplines
that still serve me well.
The two greatest influences in my life over which
I had no control whatsoever were the depression and, of course,
World War II. Both of these happenings turned out to have a very
major effect on my attitude toward life. And to this day, both
still do.
Pageonelit.com: Where and
how did your book GEMINI SHIP come about? What was there
about the story of this ship that motivated you to write about
it?
Lawrence A. Marsden: Most
importantly, I served aboard the U.S.S. Doyen through all of
her major invasions, saving only Tarawa. For a Midwesterner,
sea duty was about as foreign a venture as could be found. As
I have expressed in the book, sea duty in wartime can only be
described as weeks and months of boredom with only a very few
days in actual combat. My experience at Saipan, where we carried
the Marines into battle, gave me my first glimpse into what combat
was all about and to where we on the Doyen fit into the broad
military scheme.
I was vastly impressed by the orderliness of the
debarkation operation and the skill that the landing boat crews
- with an average age of not over nineteen years - carried the
troops into and upon the landing beaches. Equally impressive
were the many trips back and forth to the beach heads to bring
the wounded back to our ship for medical care. The caring of
the wounded was very traumatic and unforgettable. I was convinced
that a written record just had to be made.
Since I had missed the ship’s commissioning
and her first two ventures at Kiska Island in the Aleutians and
Tarawa in the Marshalls, I collected my material from officers
and crew who had served on the Doyen from day one. I must have
interviewed at least fifty of the crew before I felt competent
to tell their story.
Among other reasons for telling the ship’s story was the
ship’s Captain’s claim that the Doyen’s design
had been the brain child of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the
very early 20’s when he had served as an Under Secretary
of the Navy. That, to me, was certainly of historical interest.
As it turned out, the story was completely factual.
In doing further research in 2001, we unearthed
previously classified documents that affirmed Roosevelt’s
demand that his plans for a very special Attack Transport be
put into operation. The direct order was given to the Bureau
of Ships by the White House in 1940. When she was commissioned
in May of 1943, she was given the status of Attack Transport
Number One.
When the war ended in 1945, I submitted the completed manuscript
to the University of Minnesota Press who published it in 1946
under the title ATTACK TRANSPORT, the Story of the U.S.S.
Doyen (APA-1). It received favorable reviews and sold well.
In 1990, the crew of the Doyen held its first annual reunion.
Since it had been forty-four years since the book had been published,
most of the crew had either lost or worn out their copies.. I
was besieged by requests to reprint it. It was not until the
year 2000 that I discovered the new method of printing called
Publishing On Demand. At that time I agreed to redo it and to
add seven new chapters, one of which had originally been cut
by Navy censors.
Pageonelit.com: GEMINI
SHIP, the book, is broken down into two parts (Part 1 &
Part 2). As writer and editor, why did you do this?
Lawrence A. Marsden: Here
we had a clear case of ONE SHIP -- TWO LIVES, which called for
the new title, GEMINI SHIP, to reflect the ship’s
dual personality. The first section of the book deals with the
ship during World War II. The second section deals with its civilian
life as the Flagship of the Massachusetts
Maritime Academy.
Beginning in 1946, the Doyen became part of the
Hudson River Reserve Fleet and was put on loan to the Massachusetts
Maritime Academy in 1957. Renamed the BAY STATE, it served the
all-male enrollment of Midshipmen for fifteen years as their
dormitory, classroom, mess hall, sick bay and, as they describe
it, their play pen. In 1972 the Doyen had outlived her usefulness
and was sold for scrap. In 1973 the Academy became co-educational,
modern dormitories were constructed and the new replacement vessel
now serves strictly for instructional purposes.
Pageonelit.com: How did
you research for this story?
Lawrence A. Marsden: I have
already explained how I researched the first portion up to and
including the Tarawa invasion - by long interviews with the “plank
owners” of the ship - the original officers and crew
members, most of whom were still aboard. All of the rest of the
story was lived by me and is a very personal history.
Part Two of the book was literally written by the Midshipmen
with whom I came in contact in early 2001 via e-mail. Here I
chose to tell the progression of the story by printing the actual
exchange of e-mail received over the course of about thirteen
months. I used the same format as used in the IN RETROSPECT section
of the first part to tell the individual stories that a number
of the Academy graduates sent me.
I must tell you that the experience of doing the second part
was great fun. I was corresponding with a group of men who were
from the turbulent Sixties--a group who at the time were anti-
establishment, anti-discipline, self-confident, boisterous and
thoroughly fluent in their ability to tell their story. Most
of the tales are hilarious. Best of all, they shared our respect
and love of the ship as well as for for their Academy.
Pageonelit.com: You wrote
GEMINI SHIP in the first person. Was this difficult or
easy to do? And why did you choose first person?
Lawrence A. Marsden: I started
to do the original book, ATTACK TRANSPORT, much as one
would do in a report -- third person. To me, the copy seemed
stilted and when I started writing about the experiences where
I had been present and active, I just couldn’t do it any
longer. Feeling that the continuity and the realism that had
to be conveyed really needed first person, I rewrote the first
section and explained in the foreword what I had done and why.
Thus, in writing GEMINI SHIP it was only practical to
continue in the same way.
Pageonelit.com: I understand
the cover art is from an oil painting? How did you come by the
use of this painting?
Lawrence A. Marsden: The
painting was done by Adele E. Johnson, a very well known artist
living in Middletown, Connecticut, specializing and teaching
in watercolor, oil, collage and mixed media.
Married to N. Gordon Johnson, one of our very active
crew members and author of the new chapter on Saipan, she had
very kindly done this painting ten years ago as a gift to the
Reunion Committee. She was most happy to offer it to me for our
cover, and I was delighted to accept it.
Pageonelit.com: In your
acknowledgements, you thank several folks. Anyone in particular
in that acknowledgement you would like to mention again here
and tell us how they helped with the story? Anyone not mentioned
in the book’s acknowledgement you would like to mention?
Lawrence A. Marsden: As
you can tell from the acknowledgement in the book, the cover
was the inspiration and accomplishment of one of my grandsons,
Graham Ross Marsden. A recent graduate of Wheaton College, he
was patient enough to stay with me for a week and help me with
the technical part of doing the entire book on my iMac computer.
Now working in Washington, D. C., he is involved in web design
and staying happy and busy.
Yes, there is someone else who is very deserving of credit. And
that is my son Lawrence S. Marsden, known to all as Skip. He
is not only Graham’s father but is Web Master and Computer
Services Coordinator for the Pardee Hospital system in Hendersonville,
N. C. With Graham now gone from the scene, Skip is now my bulwark
of computer knowledge and is helping me considerably on almost
a daily basis.
Pageonelit.com: How did
the IN RETROSPECT section come about?
Lawrence A. Marsden: Since
over 56 years had passed since the surrender of Japan, I was
anxious to see what the major recollections of the crew would
be. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the response
when more than half of the still-living crew submitted stories.
It was very interesting to note how many of them took the “Sun
Dial” approach, recording only the sunny hours. I had
also asked for pictures of each - one in uniform during the war
and one taken recently. Most complied, and the results are just
great!
Pageonelit.com: What has
been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about
their interpretations of your book? What do they like about the
book?
Lawrence A. Marsden: The
response from our crew members has been truly a moving experience.
Letters from widows of three of the men who have died since the
book was commenced in 2001 and before the book was published
in May of 2002 have been tearfully appreciative. We constantly
receive reorders from those still hale and hearty, some orders
in the neighborhood of twenty or more copies. But all of that
is to be expected.
One reader, who was a child during the war, wrote
to me as follows:
I would have to tell you that when I ordered
the book, I couldn't imagine plowing through a story about a
ship in WW2. Well, Larry, I have been absolutely mesmerized and
have felt like I finally know what it was like to be a part of
the war. I've read every word not only once, but sometimes twice
to be sure I was getting the scenerio. Many of the stories have
made me laugh out loud. Some, such as the recounts of Iwo Jima
and the letter of the doctor, have made my insides churn. But
both have given me a true sense of what the war is really like.
I thank you for the lesson. A friend of mine called on the phone
this afternoon when I was deep into the reading, and I told her
this book ought to be required reading for our son's (and their
son's) generations! It's a truly great book, Larry, and how you
have written it makes all the difference - it's not just a story
--- you're THERE!!! And it's written in that same personal style
that Mom had. It's from the heart. To me, that makes all the
difference.
I've got a tummy virus that made me have to
cancel all my appointments for the day. The good part is that
I got to curl up on the couch to read your book!! Will give my
final review after page 350 - but it can't get any better!!!
Luv, Pat Thaden Webb
(*NOTE: Pat's Mother was the Louise Thaden who
in the thirties held every record for women pilots, including
winning the Bendix Air Trophy where Jimmy Dolittle came in second.
She recounted her experiences in her non-fiction best seller,
"High, Wide and Frightened.")
Reviews have been consistently favorable, most offering an appreciation
of the book’s balanced reporting on what the naval war in
the Pacific was to the persons serving aboard the ships--weeks
and months of loneliness and boredom punctuated by only a few
weeks of danger and the blood and waste of war. One reviewer
wrote: “Within the two dozen memoirs of the crew, you
can see that these scared, anxious young Americans helped win
the war, and then went on to win the peace. In the ship’s
roster, you’ll find future CEOs, police officers, bankers,
business owners and the whole gamut of American life. Larry Marsden
and his book GEMINI SHIP honors all of those men by the retelling
of their stories, and it is a fitting and deserving tribute to
the sailors who went to war across the vast Pacific Ocean so
many years ago.”
The reviewer continues: “The second part
of the ship’s history, detailing its life as the BAY STATE
from 1957 to 1972, is a nice contrast from the wartime history
of the ship....many of the stories are interesting and anyone
who has spent time at sea will certainly relate. So, with all
the pieces put together, who will be interested in GEMINI SHIP?
Clearly, if you have an interest in learning about life as an
American sailor of WWII, the transport fleet or the MMA, GEMINI
SHIP is certainly worth a read.”
That feeling, too, has been the tenor of the calls
I have had from civilian friends who have read the book. One
acquaintance recently extended to me an invitation to address
his Rotary Club, one which I gladly accepted.
Pageonelit.com: Are you
working on a follow up? Or something different?
Lawrence A. Marsden: No
follow up. But for over sixty years I have been collecting amusing
stories which I am at last putting into legible order under the
proposed title of “OH, HONEY -- NOT THAT STORY!"
I also have a similarly long collection of bits and pieces
of my own personal writing that I have done during my college
years up and to this time. These I will take a long look at before
foisting them onto the public.
Pageonelit.com: What was
the last book you read?
Lawrence A. Marsden: Truthfully,
GEMINI SHIP. It was read and reread during proofing, and
for the past year and a half I have had no time for anything
else. Now that the push is getting over, I am starting to ask
friends for a few good referrals..
Pageonelit.com: Do you have
any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?
Lawrence A. Marsden: Age
has taken a toll of what were once serious hobbies. First to
go was private flying. During my active years in business, I
racked up over 5,000 hours of business and vacation flying. I
reluctantly gave that up at age seventy. Next to go, and only
recently, was golf which my
wife and I have enjoyed since our marriage in 1941. Blame that
on my back. Left to me, though, have been the basic standbys
of reading, writing, music, limited travel and photography.
My most important hobby of all is my family. It now consists
of four children, twelve grandchildren, nine great grands with
two more on the way, and when we add in the husbands and wives
of our offspring we come to a grand total at the time of this
writing of forty one! As my wife tells everyone, “Not
too shabby for an only son from rural Minnesota!”
How do these hobbies of mine enhance my writing? That’s
an easy question to answer. They are the main ingredients of
all that make up my memory bank.
Graduated
from Navy Supply Corps School August of 1942. Ordered to duty
at the Motor Torpedo Boat Commissioning Detail in New Orleans,
La. Believing that the war might last for years, transferred
from the Naval Reserve to the Regular Navy. Promoted to Lt.(jg)
and then to Lieutenant. Following this last promotion was ordered
to duty as Supply Officer aboard the U.S.S. Doyen (APA-1). Reported
aboard in early May of 1944, prior to the invasion of Saipan.
Served through the landings at Saipan, Guam, Leyte Gulf, Luzon
and Iwo Jima. The ship, hit by a shell at Iwo, was ordered back
to the States for overhaul. When the war ended the Doyen was
still in dry dock. Marsden was then sent to the Bureau of Supplies
and Accounts as Officer-in-Charge of Public Information. While
there he was able to complete his LLB degree at George Washington
Law School and was admitted to the D.C. Bar in December of 1946.
Resigning his commission effective December 31, 1946, he joined
two of his classmates, Lloyd Onion and Ricey New, and opened
the law firm of Onion, Marsden and New with offices in downtown
Washington. He practiced only briefly, and went into business
representing the Bolta Company of Lawrence, 
Massachusetts
in the Southeast. Daniel E. Hogan, Jr., good friend and former
Captain of the Doyen, was Vice President of Bolta. He quickly
formed a Sales Agency, Marsden-Slate, Inc., and in 1968 his company
was absorbed by Guilford Mills of Greensboro, N. C. He served
there as Senior Vice President until his retirement in 1984.
He was the co-developer of the molded one-piece headliner for
General Motors in 1974, a product that is used in almost 100%
of all cars manufactured today.