The wandering spirit of sea-bound writer Jonathan White

PALMER — Washington writer Jonathan White published his book, “Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean” last year and he’s currently touring the country to promote his decade-long undertaking. White’s book chronicles his journey around the world, spanning 10 years. The book weaves together both science and humanity — crafting a collection of empirical knowledge, philosophy, culture, spirituality and personal anecdotes. It’s essentially an educational narrative. The book is designed to be both informative and entertaining as the reader pages through his quest to learn about tides.

White will be visiting Fireside Books in Palmer tonight, signing copies of his book from 4 to 6 p.m. He will also have a dinner conversation at Turkey Red from 6 to 8 p.m. He will also be visiting Anchorage, Kenai, Homer, Sitka and other places around the state. He said he also plans to go on an international tour next year.

“There’s so much more to tides than people realize. It influences our lives more than we think. It has no beginning and it has no end. It’s poetic, it’s complex and it’s fascinating,” White said.

White stopped at many places around the world for his book. He went to China to see the world’s largest tidal bore (A tidal bore is when the tide goes up the river in the form of a wave or a solid wall of water). He went to the Bay of Fundy, Canada and the Arctic, two places that have the largest tides in the world, Fundy being the highest in the planet’s history. He visited Scotland and Chile to study tide energy. He visited the San Blas Islands, Panama and Venice, Italy, to study sea level rise. White spent a lot of time in United Kingdom, which he said has a lot of “extreme tides.” He cited the U.K. as the “heart of the scientific revolution,” giving way to the laws of gravity and planetary motion. He said those endeavors helped oceanic scientists piece together how the tides work. He said that Sir Isaac Newton, in particular, laid out the foundation for future generations to refer back to and even still use today, called the Equilibrium Tide Theory.

“It was a small part of what he did but is a major step forward in his time,” White said.

In the course of his travels, White interviewed people from numerous walks of life — from surfers and kayakers to marine scientists and sailors. He spoke to people who were intimately experienced with the ocean and he said that the tides had a strong connection to coastal communities. Fishermen review tide books before they depart, Saint Benedict's monks in monasteries share part their spiritual experience on the tides since it’s such a striking natural phenomenon, and surfers will pick their destinations, chasing the best waves based on the tides.

“People all over the world have been shaped culturally by the tide,” White said.

White resides on Orcas Island, which is part of the San Jaun Islands archipelago off the coast of Washington. He spends most of his time writing. That’s his meat and potatoes. This is his second book published. Most of his works are nautical, which makes sense, considering he’s practically made of salt, himself. He has his own boat and frequently sails his home waters. He’s also an avid surfer.

White frequently contributes articles to various magazines including, “Sailing — the Beauty of the Sea,” “Surfer’s Journal” and “Orion Magazine.” He also does carpentry on the side. That’s his bread and butter. He even has his own company called White Construction.

“I grew up on the coast so I’m a surfer, sailor, scuba diver; so I’ve always had a tide book in my back pocket but I never knew how the tides worked,” White said.

White almost lost his schooner just north of Sitka in the mid 1990s. He dragged anchor and went down with the low tide. It didn’t come up with the high tide, and the boat was flooded. After that experience, he committed to learning how tides worked. It was mysterious and intriguing to him. What started as a casual introduction became a passion project that propelled him to penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places.

“Pretty soon a couple books turned into 10 and 50 then 300,” White said. “And a couple of weeks turned into 10 years.”

Alaska is a part of his national book tour, due in no small part to his personal experience in the state (which appears as the introduction to the book) and his overall adoration for the Last Frontier.

“Oh, I love Alaska, I almost moved here twice,” White said.

Fate intervened and White met his wife. The two settled down in their nautical home off the coast of Washington, with their son, who is currently on a tour of his own as a successful magician.

For more information about Jonathon White and his tour, visit: jonathanwhitewriter.com/speaking/#events