Shakespeare first used the expression “sea change” to mean a transformation brought about by the sea. Today a sea change can refer to a physical transformation or a paradigm shift in policies, attitudes, or approaches.
Not by chance Sea Change is the title of Maxwell Kennedy’s most recent book, deliberately evoking both meanings. No surprise: Kennedy is an accomplished sailor AND a member of one of America’s most accomplished political families.
Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, the ninth son of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy, spent his childhood summers in Hyannis Port, Maine, and knows the world’s oceans as sailor, diver, and environmental advocate. (That’s in his spare time: professionally he is a lawyer, lecturer, and field organizer, as well as best-selling author).
“Sailing has been a family tradition for 100 years,” he emphasized during an address at the Prix Costa Smeralda ceremony in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, on April 27, 2019, which he attended as a guest speaker. He charmed the audience by observing, “Hyannis Port is like Sardinia: everyone loves the sea and everyone is Catholic.”
Kennedy has the tousled hair, toothy smile, and rugged good looks characteristic of his family. He has a mariner’s tanned face, broad shoulders, and large powerful hands. (One can’t help contrasting them with the doughy form and…
