Herman and The Princess Gull by Captain Lew Maurer

When two unlikely characters find each other they decide that friendship is better than instinct.

Remember that wonderful, feel-good moment when, for the first time, we see a tender, loving exchange between two animals? In Herman and the Princess Gull, it is especially heartwarming because the two animals would normally be life and death enemies.

Herman was inspired by a true event on a lovely beach in Costa Rica. The author includes the “backstory” at the end, lending a nice, educational touch to the “cast of characters.”

Herman and Antares will melt hearts and become heroes of the sea for children everywhere. Be prepared—kids ask to hear this story night after night.

Interview With The Author

Q: Tell us about Herman and The Princess Gull.
I first wrote Herman twenty years ago. It was a bedtime story for my granddaughters, based on an experience I had in Costa Rica. While surfing, I noticed my girlfriend, Debbie, was pacing up and down the beach, picking up things and then dropping them back on the sand. When I returned to the beach, I discovered she was looking for empty shells. In her hand was an empty coconut shell, with a hermit crab inside. She had found the little creature beneath some seaweed and immediately noticed he had no shell. Without a shell for protection, he would soon be found and eaten by a hungry seagull, so she was looking for an empty shell he could use. I joined the hunt and his dilemma became clear. None of the shells on the beach were large enough. As soon as we would put a shell in the coconut, he would inspect it and reject it. Finally, we went up beyond the high tide line, where past storms might cast shells and found one that was just right. He immediately climbed in and we took him back to the beach. This was the basis for my original story, which was to be “How the Hermit Crab Got His Shell”, but I fell in love with the concept of Herman saving a (Princess) gull, and being saved in return. It is a simple and heartwarming story of friendship between two very unlikely animals.

Q: Which writers have influenced you most?
As a young boy, and a voracious reader of all things about the sea, I was most influenced by writers like Daniel Defoe, Jack London, Rudyard Kipling and Herman Melville. Later, I was drawn to Richard Henry Dana, Joseph Conrad, and others.

Q: What was the last great book/play/poem you read?
I just finished a great book about the American Indian, titled Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne.

Q: If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Write it down! Anything, everything that is interesting! Keep a journal, scraps of paper, or whatever to record your thoughts and feelings about all the things you find fascinating in your world. It might be years later, but those observations will come together in ways you never imagined.

Q: What writing resources have been most helpful to you?
My books would have never happened without the professional expertise I found at Monkey C Media. Jeniffer Thompson and her team took me across the finish line on the professional level I needed.

Q: Which of your life experiences have shaped you most as a writer?
Growing up on fishing boats, learning to repair and build boats, and operating both commercial and pleasure boats around the world gave me a wealth of experience and knowledge to write endlessly on my marine world and everything within it.

Q: What was the first piece of writing you shared with someone else?
Remember those SAT tests in high school? My counselor told me I could be either an engineer, or a writer and amazingly, I became both! My first scribblings went to my high school English teacher who was a tough critic, but must have seen my potential and planted the seed for writing I never forgot. Years later, I shared a story with Otto Lehrack, a famous author of Vietnam war books who encouraged me and became my mentor.