Sarah and the shipmates

Published Oct. 22, 2009 at 5:12 p.m.
Vowell on the Puritans and the founding of Rhode Island
...Humorist, historian, superhero. Sarah Vowell is a woman of letters and voices...

ROGER! Vowell calls Williams “the founding freak.”

Humorist, historian, superhero. Sarah Vowell is a woman of letters and voices. Her four books and her contributions to public radio's This American Life display a brilliant, droll wit, but also a serious mind. Her most recent book, The Wordy Shipmates (just out in paperback), combines a detailed history of the Puritan settling of Providence and Boston with thoughtful reflections on the perils of mixing faith and government, plus humorous observations on everything from 1970s sitcoms to Indian casinos. Still, despite her more grown-up concerns, Vowell is best known among the kid-set as the voice of Violet, teen heroine, in Disney's animated feature The Incredibles.

Sarah Vowell will read at Brown University's MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer Street, Providence, on October 29. We recently spoke with her by phone.

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