In his new book Ordinary Heroes of Old Delmarva, Jim Duffy spins yarns about some of Delmarva’s unsung historical heroes, whose bravery, compassion, and resilience reflect some enduring qualities of Eastern Shore society.
Since moving to Cambridge nearly two decades ago, author Jim Duffy has built a career weaving local tales of travel, culture, and history, capturing the spirit of Delmarva through his self-published books and storytelling.
After years of journalism with various magazines and academia in Baltimore and Chicago, Duffy began his literary journey from a practical standpoint, writing saleable travel guides, which evolved into a passion for uncovering Delmarva’s hidden histories.
Throughout his two previous Eastern Shore Road Trips collections, Duffy often wove travel historical narratives into tales from the region’s past into his text and lectures at local libraries and social centers, on local TV, and his website, Secrets of the Eastern Shore.
In his recently-published sixth book, Duffy takes a deeper historical dive with Ordinary Heroes of Old Delmarva, a compendium of related yarns about some of Delmarva’s unsung heroes of yore, whose extraordinary acts of bravery, compassion, and resilience that reflect some enduring qualities of Eastern Shore society.
The book’s 33 vignettes, drawn from online archives, historical society annals, and old books, span more than three centuries, with Talbot, Dorchester, and Queen Anne’s counties serving as mise-en-scène for many of the tales.
Delmarva’s history, he acknowledges, is rife with portraits of scoundrels, cutthroats, and scalawags throughout its colorful past. You won’t find any of that ilk in the current volume, he says. Maybe in the next one. Instead, it tells inspiring stories of uncelebrated personages, among them women, minorities, and immigrants.
“Every step we take, we walk on footsteps of the past,” Duffy told The Spy. “Sure, there are plenty of bad ones, but there are so many good footsteps . . . which not only take us back in time, but help us move forward.”
A self-described storyteller more than a historian, Duffy arranges his chapters with a rhythm that alternates between emotional highs and lows among the tales. From shipwreck rescues to acts of defiance against injustice, these stories highlight a universal human spirit rooted in Delmarva’s unique landscape.
One of the author’s favorites features Henry Callister, a flawed yet compassionate merchant originally from Liverpool in colonial Oxford, where, literally on the town dock, he encountered hundreds of starving French-Canadian refugees, expelled by the British from Nova Scotia after the French and Indian War, and deposited all across the Empire.
Notwithstanding his dubious reputation as a drinker and carouser, Callister set aside prejudices about the francophone refugees, especially their Catholicism, to help them. He collaborated with a local pastor to secure housing, even resorting to dropping refugees off on docks of wealthy Miles River landowners, who reluctantly took them in.
His efforts ensured their survival through a harsh winter, leaving a legacy of compassion and shared humanity that resonates today. Many among this Acadians are the forebears of Louisiana’s Cajun population.
Another inspiring character is Mary Banning, a late19th-century woman from Easton whose fascination with mushrooms led to an unexpected legacy. In an era when women were rarely recognized as scientists, Banning taught herself mycology, seeing in mushrooms a reflection of the divine in even the most overlooked corners of nature.
She poured her passion into a book, complete with watercolor renditions, ultimately identifying 23 new species. Her work was only discovered 91 years later to great acclaim, cementing her as a pioneer who defied societal constraints.
Banning’s story combines resilience, spirituality, and love for the natural world, underscoring Duffy’s theme of finding glory in the underappreciated. These tales, carefully researched and vividly told, invite readers to reflect on the past while considering how to leave their own footprints in the present.
Self-published and available at over 20 shops and bookstores across the Delmarva Peninsula, as well as online, Ordinary Heroes of Old Delmarva is a testament to Duffy’s skill at storytelling as a means of connection.
“I hope that together, these stories explore the universality of the human condition, set on Delmarva,” he says.
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