Paul W. Simpson is a writer, historian and educator. He is the author of several books on maritime history. Paul’s book, Windjammer was written after being asked to conduct research, as part of an archaeological search on Kangaroo Island for the graves and wreck of the lost clipper ship Loch Sloy. The book Star of Greece helped to rewrite the story of the wreck. It also helped to raise funds through the support of the Willing branch of the National Trust of South Australia for the dedication of a plaque with the names of all those souls lost, revealed for the first time. As a supporter Paul has also written ‘The Last Captain’ as a fundraiser for the clipper ship the City of Adelaide Trust. He is currently working on a book about the earliest visit of a whaling ship to visit South Australia in 1800.
Paul’s books have been published in several countries and can be found in maritime museums and libraries in Australia, Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Canada and the USA. Paul grew up on Kangaroo Island, one of the last places where square-rigged ketches sailed commercially, and where tales of shipwrecks are part of local folklore. He has spent the last decade researching and writing books about 19th-century sailing ships and the people who sailed them. When not trawling through old books and musty newspaper archives, he can be found combing windswept beaches for treasures with his daughter, and fellow adventurer.
