Seattle Fulbright Scholar Checks In From Sweden

I received a thrilling e-mail yesterday from Nathaniel Howe, a UW museum studies student on a Fulbright Scholarship to Stockholm University. (The photo shows him pointing to a trail marker on a local hiking trail.) Nathaniel attended the Wawona Summit last year and one of my lectures on the schooner Wawona, and he wrote to say that he's looking forward to return to Seattle to resume his "not-so-quite passion" for the ship. Nathaniel has lived on an icebreaker, and he works at the Vasa Museum, described on its website as "Scandinavia's most visited museum," located in Stockholm. It's home to the 17th century royal Swedish warship, Vasa.

Nathaniel's recent research has taken him to 11 maritime museums in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and he's excited about the "fantastic ideas" they offer. "In building a maritime heritage center in Seattle, we shall not be marching into the unknown many people believe," he writes. "There are plenty of good and bad examples to learn from over here to guide us from folly."

Nathaniel keeps his own blog of his experiences in Sweden called Magellan i Sverge, translated as "Magellan in Sweden;" "Magellan" is his nickname. We hope his voyages bring him home safe and sound and that he makes a mark in his home port. ( Criminy, did I just write that? ;P )

If you'd like to write to him, visit his blog or write to me at info@maritimeheritage.net and I'll pass along the note.