I Sing the Rising Sea spans a 100-year period, following the lives of marine biologist Granby Collins and his great-grandson from Norfolk to New York to Washington DC to Antartica.
Granby is an orphan, raised by his Aunt Maggie in Huntersville, Virginia, who spends the summer of 1933 working as an errand boy for Ruth at the Ocean View Amusement Park. An endearingly enthusiastic 11-year-old when we meet him, he explores the Chesapeake Bay and the creatures that live within it during his free time.
Jonathan Burke in I Sing the Rising Sea
After high school, Granby travels to New York City to study at Columbia University. While there, he befriends Harlem poet and activist, Langston Hughes. Granby later enlists himself in the Navy during World War II and ends up stationed in Japan. After the war, Granby settles down in his beloved Ocean View, and spends his life researching and reporting on marine biology and sea levels.
Tavon Olds-Sample and Jonathan Burke in I Sing the Rising Sea
You can still catch Granby and his sea creatures in I Sing Rising Sea, which runs through Sunday, October 9. Click here for tickets!