The Perfect Storm

by

Sebastian Junger

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The Perfect Storm Characters

Bob Brown

Bob Brown is the owner of the Andrea Gail. Though Bob is respected as a self-made businessman, people in Gloucester have nicknamed him “Suicide Bob” because of his tendency to take risks while fishing… read analysis of Bob Brown

Billy Tyne

Billy Tyne is the captain of the Andrea Gail, a role he took over from Charlie Reed. Billy is a Gloucester native. A divorced father of two, Billy is the rare fisherman who… read analysis of Billy Tyne

Bobby Shatford

Bobby Shatford is a crew member on the Andrea Gail. Raised by his mother, Ethel, Bobby grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. At the time of the boat’s last voyage, he is engaged to… read analysis of Bobby Shatford

Christina (Chris) Cotter

Chris Cotter is Bobby Shatford’s fiancée. She is in her early 40s when The Perfect Storm is set. She is divorced, with three children from a previous marriage. Chris suffers great anxiety over Bobby’s… read analysis of Christina (Chris) Cotter

Dale Murphy (Murph)

Murph is a crew member on the Andrea Gail. He is 30 years old and from Bradenton Beach, Florida. His ex-wife is Debra, and he dotes on his three-year-old son, Dale. Buying his… read analysis of Dale Murphy (Murph)
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Alfred Pierre

Alfred Pierre is a crew member on the Andrea Gail. The ship’s only black crew member, he was originally from Jamaica and lived in New York City. Pierre was shy and not well known… read analysis of Alfred Pierre

Linda Greenlaw

Linda is the captain of the Hannah Boden, the Andrea Gail’s sister boat, which is also owned by Bob Brown. Linda is a Colby College graduate, one of the few female captains… read analysis of Linda Greenlaw

Albert Johnston

When The Perfect Storm is set, Johnston is the 36-year-old captain of the swordfishing boat called the Mary T. Johnston has been fishing since he was a teenager, monitors weather conditions closely, and is… read analysis of Albert Johnston

Karen Stimpson

Karen Stimpson is a 42-year-old experienced sailor who, with her friend Sue Bylander, is hired by Ray Leonard to crew the sailboat Satori’s trip to Bermuda. She fights to keep the Satori afloat… read analysis of Karen Stimpson

Sue Bylander

Sue Bylander is a 38-year-old experienced sailor who, with her friend Karen Stimpson, is hired by Ray Leonard to crew the sailboat Satori’s trip to Bermuda. She helps Stimpson fight to keep the… read analysis of Sue Bylander

John Spillane

John Spillane is a highly trained Air National Guard pararescue jumper who ditches from Dave Ruvola’s doomed helicopter following an aborted rescue attempt. Despite severe internal and external injuries from his jump into the… read analysis of John Spillane

Rick Smith

With John Spillane, Rick Smith is a highly trained Air National Guard pararescue jumper who presumably ditches from Dave Ruvola’s helicopter, but his body is never recovered. He leaves behind a wife, Marianneread analysis of Rick Smith
Minor Characters
Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger is the author of The Perfect Storm. He became interested in the storm after witnessing its damage firsthand and reading a newspaper report about the purported loss of the Andrea Gail.
Ethel Shatford
Ethel Shatford is Bobby Shatford’s mother. She raised six children in Gloucester and has worked as the Crow’s Nest’s daytime bartender since 1980. She takes a motherly role toward the young fishermen and others who frequent the Crow’s Nest and don’t have homes or families of their own.
Bugsy Moran
Bugsy Moran is a crew member on the Andrea Gail. He has long hair and a crazy reputation in Gloucester. He disappears along with the rest of the crew during the storm.
Adam Randall
Adam Randall is a fisherman who backs out of the Andrea Gail’s final voyage at the last minute. Sully replaces him. Randall ends up dying in the mysterious sinking of the Terri Lei the following spring.
David (Sully) Sullivan
Sully is a crew member on the Andrea Gail. He replaces Adam Randall after Randall backs out of the Andrew Gail’s last voyage. He was a longtime friend of Bobby’s. He disappears along with the rest of the crew during the storm.
Charlie Reed
Charlie Reed is the former captain of the Andrea Gail. Like Billy Tyne, he genuinely loved being on the ocean.
Charlie Johnson
Charlie Johnson is the captain of the swordfishing boat called the Seneca. He recalls feeling concerned when Billy Tyne reported to him that the Andrea Gail took a long time to recover from a rogue wave.
Tommy Barrie
Tommy Barrie is the captain of the Allison. His wife, Kimberly, is interviewed on the news during the storm.
Bob Case
Bob Case is a meteorologist who works for the National Weather Service in Boston. He is credited by Junger with initially referring to the storm as “the perfect storm.”
Ray Leonard
Ray Leonard is the owner of the Satori who hires Stimpson and Bylander to crew the Satori during his trip to Bermuda. When the Satori goes down during the storm, Leonard is utterly distraught and practically has to be dragged aboard the rescue helicopter.
Graham Buschor
Graham Buschor is Dave Ruvola’s copilot on the H-60 Air National Guard helicopter which goes down after a botched refueling attempt during the storm. Apparently the least badly injured after the ditching, Buschor is the first of the pararescue crew to be recovered by the Tamaroa.
Jim Mioli
Jim Mioli is an Air National Guard flight engineer on the helicopter piloted by Dave Ruvola. After the helicopter’s planned ditching, Mioli manages to survive in the Atlantic despite becoming hypothermic and is finally rescued by the Tamaroa.
Dave Moore
Dave Moore is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who saves the lives of Karen Stimpson, Sue Bylander, and Ray Leonard from the sinking Satori.
Ernie Hazard
Ernie Hazard is a machinist on Bob Brown’s Fair Wind who cut himself adrift when the boat began to sink and survived for two days on the open sea.
Mary Anne
Mary Anne is Bobby Shatford’s sister and Ethel’s daughter. She’s been critical of his drinking but loves Bobby dearly.
Judith Reeves
Judith Reeves is a Canadian observer aboard the Eishin Maru who was asked to broadcast the Japanese-speaking crew’s mayday message.
Commander Brudnicki
Commander Brudnicki is the Commander of the Tamaroa who oversees the rescue of the pararescue crew of Ruvola, Buschor, Spillane, and Mioli from the Atlantic.
Jodi Tyne
Jodi Tyne is Billy Tyne’s ex-wife, who’d divorced him over his obsession with fishing, knowing it would always dictate their lives and relationship.
Debra
Debra is Murph’s ex-wife and mother of his son, Dale, Jr.
Kimberly Barrie
Kimberly Barrie is Tommy Barrie’s wife. After being interviewed on the news during the storm, she is bombarded with calls from other worried wives.
Susan Brown
Susan Brown is Bob Brown’s wife. She tells Chris Cotter when the Andrea Gail goes missing.
Marianne Smith
Marianne Smith is the widow of pararescue jumper Rick Smith, who was lost at sea during the storm.