Cynthia Collins is from Jefferson City, Missouri. She began taking piano lessons at the age of five and had every intention of pursuing a career in music. After graduating from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri with a degree in music theory, her studies continued with a summer in Salzburg, Austria and graduate work in New York.
While working in the performance and administrative sides of the music industry, she realized she was spending much of her spare time watching the ships in New York Harbor. In 2004, she signed up to volunteer at the South Street Seaport Museum and was soon hired to work in the office. She was asked to write about the museum’s ships, and took sail training lessons aboard a nineteenth-century schooner. Her interest in maritime history and historic houses grew along with her responsibilities of writing grants, giving tours, and working with related public programs. She was one of the dockside volunteers for the New York portion of the 2006 Godspeed Sail to commemorate America’s 400th Anniversary, and wrote a five-part series about the schooner Ernestina located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Continue reading “Featured Author: Cynthia Collins”