Author Talk with Don Wilding

Join local author Don Wilding for a special author talk on Sunday, June 28 at 4 p.m., featuring his new release Prohibition on Cape Cod: Running the Rum In. He uncovers stories, ranging from horrifying to humorous, from this unforgettable age of contraband and controversy on Cape Cod. This event will be followed by a book signing and sale in partnership with Eight Cousins Bookstore.

Fishermen, Farmers and Gangsters on the Cape risk everything to bring in the rum. During Prohibition, rumrunning was big business on Cape Cod. Fishermen and farmers, such as Provincetown’s Manny Zora and Eastham’s Bud Cummings, headed offshore to “Rum Row” under cover of darkness, bringing the criminal yet coveted alcohol home. They risked heavy fines, jail time, and even their lives in encounters with law enforcement, hijackers, and gangsters. Sandwich’s Eugene Haines, a staunch supporter of Prohibition, mysteriously disappeared, believed to have been murdered by rumrunners.

Don Wilding is the author of six books on Cape Cod history: Historic Storms of Cape Cod, released in May 2024; Cape Cod and the Portland Gale of 1898, published in May 2023; Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How ‘The Outermost House’ Inspired a National Seashore, A Brief History of Eastham: On the Outer Beach of Cape Cod, and Shipwrecks of Cape Cod: Stories of Triumph & Tragedy. Prohibition on Cape Cod: Running The Rum In is his most recent published work.

Don has worked as a Cape tour guide and is a regular speaker on Cape Cod lore in Massachusetts and across New England. He was an award-winning newspaper editor, writer, and designer in Massachusetts for 36 years, including a recent stint as a contributing history columnist and photographer for Cape newspapers. Don has also led history walks for the Harwich Conservation Trust since 2018 and was recognized as one of their “Conservationists of the Year” in 2023.

Don has also been an instructor of Cape Cod history courses for the Open University of Wellfleet and Nauset Community Education.