About this item
A harrowing narrative of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway - COVID-19 - days before the world shut down in March 2020.In early 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam, owned by Holland America, was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers - Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew. Most passengers were over the age of sixty-five. There was concern about the virus on the news, and it had already killed and sickened passengers on other Holland America ships. But that was oceans away, and escaping to sea at the ends of the earth for a few weeks seemed like it might be a good option.
About the Author
Chef Michael Smith graduated with honors from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York in 1991. He worked in London, South American and Caribbean restaurants before coming back to North America and Manhattan. In 1992 he moved to Prince Edward Island, from where he has become Canada's best-known chef, the winner of the James Beard Award for Cooking Show Excellence and host of and on Food Network Canada and in 26 other countries. He is today an award winning cookbook author, newspaper columnist, roving Canadian cuisine ambassador, restaurant chef and home cook.
