Linda Greenlaw has returned to the sea – and to the written page – a decade after the events chronicled in Sebastian Junger’s “The Perfect Storm” and her own book, “The Hungry Ocean,” that made her famous.

At 47, with a slew of books to her name including three New York Times bestselling nonfiction books about life as a commercial fisherman, a cookbook and two mysteries, she found herself lured back to captain a swordfishing boat, and tells the tale in her newest nonfiction book, “Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea.”

She’ll be on Mount Desert Island this weekend to talk about the book. On Saturday, July 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. there will be a booksigning at Sherman’s on Main Street in Bar Harbor.

And on Sunday, July 25, beginning at 4 p.m. she’ll be at Neighborhood House on Main Street in Northeast Harbor for a talk and booksigning to benefit Island Readers & Writers program (IRW). Both events are open to the public and there is no charge for admission, though donations will be accepted at the IRW event.

“With witty observation, absolute candor, and detailed description, she kept me enthralled from page one through the end,” said Sherman’s Debbie Taylor. “I loved it!”

Many of Linda Greenlaw’s readers tell her they have no need to ever go deep-sea fishing. “I’ve been at sea with you,” they say, and it’s one of the nicest compliments Ms. Greenlaw says she gets.

That kind of shared experience, via authors and books, is what the author hopes to pass on to participants of IRW programs.

Maine island children, often geographically confined by the rocky beaches defining their island’s boundaries, are transported via books and visiting authors, thanks to IRW, a nonprofit organization that aims “to reach out and inspire the passion of reading to island children,” according to IRW founder Jan Coates.

IRW serves the schools, libraries and inhabitants of 10 Maine islands from Matinicus Island to Mount Desert Island, and its neighboring Cranberry Isles and Swans Island.

The former owner of Port In A Storm and Portside bookstores in Somesville, and Bernard, Ms. Coates said she is pleased to have Ms. Greenlaw visit MDI and participate in the program.

Its mission, said Ms. Greenlaw, is important. “It’s to inspire passion [for reading] for the kids on the island.”

A self-described “summer kid” on Isle au Haut, Ms. Greenlaw has been a year-round resident of the island for 12 years. Often referred to as “America’s only female swordfishing captain,” Ms. Greenlaw also stars in a Discovery Channel series, “Swords: Life on the Line.” The second season begins in August.

In “Seaworthy,” Ms. Greenlaw tells the tale of her return to swordfishing and shares the difficulties she experienced at sea. She said those problems were not due to changes in fishing practices, or new technology, but rather, in her. Ten years older, and with financial issues and new family responsibilities, Ms. Greenlaw’s voyage was very different from her previous journeys.

And it included an arrest for fishing in Canadian waters, which is chronicled in “Seaworthy.” Ms. Greenlaw said some fishing gear had floated by accident into Canadian waters and when she and her crew went to retrieve the gear, they were caught hauling it and Canadian fishing authorities arrested her and she was jailed for a day.

“It was not a good feeling,” said Ms. Greenlaw, who fishes in the waters from Isle au Haut to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Before returning to swordfishing, she supplemented her writing career as a lobster fisherman in her home waters.

For more information about the event at Sherman’s – or to reserve a signed copy of the book – call 288-3161. For more information about the IRW event, call Ms. Coates at 460-8897.

For more arts & entertainment news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.

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