Shiver me timbers. Thar sure be plenty o’ pirates here in the
South Valley. And in two week, all ye local land lubbers have an
opportunity to set sail with a bunch of buccaneers at a Morgan Hill
gala guaranteed to be the swashbuckling social celebration of the
century.
Shiver me timbers. Thar sure be plenty o’ pirates here in the South Valley. And in two week, all ye local land lubbers have an opportunity to set sail with a bunch of buccaneers at a Morgan Hill gala guaranteed to be the swashbuckling social celebration of the century.
The gala I’m talking about is the “Leadership Inspires!” fundraiser for the Leadership Morgan Hill non-profit organization. It will be held on Aug. 29 at the home of my friend Rich Firato. Firato is so gung-ho about pirates, he turned the grounds around his Morgan Hill estate into a pirate village. Purchasing a ticket or two to the “Leadership Inspires!” event gets you the opportunity to walk the plank and swig some swill with the rogues and wenches populating Firato’s pirate town.
You’ll be amazed at the Disney-like detail Firato has put into his pirate-themed display. Stroll around a koi pond and see scaled-down pirate ships in battle. Step into a pirate throne gazebo and rest among treasure chests overflowing with loot. Dare to enter a secret pirate mineshaft Firato loaded with ore containing genuine poppy jasper gemstones. After a mug of rum punch at the mermaid bar, find yourself shanghaied to Port Royal, the notorious pirate capitol of the Caribbean.
Firato is not the only pirate enthusiast in our region. For a landlocked area, the South Valley region has some amazing associations with literary pirates. The Vanumanutagi English-style cottage at the end of Gilroy’s Redwood Retreat Road, for instance, served as the home for Lloyd Osborne, the stepson of Robert Louis Stevenson. The great Scottish author was encouraged by Osborne as a lad to write the pirate adventure Treasure Island. Stevenson modeled “Jim Hawkins” after the boy.
Stevenson served as literary inspiration for another famous wordsmith who lived in our region. As a child, John Steinbeck loved “Treasure Island”. Perhaps inspired by this classic children’s story, the Salinas-born author’s first published book was a swashbuckling adventure. Steinbeck’s novel “Cup of Gold” takes readers on a voyage with Sir Henry Morgan, the famous Welsh leader of privateers who pillaged Spanish merchant vessels in Caribbean waters. (A privateer is a pirate for hire contracted by a national government.)
Firato, inspired by the exploits of Sir Morgan, christened his pirate-themed estate “Morgan’s Cove” in the privateer’s honor. And why, you might be wondering, would the Leadership Morgan Hill “Leadership Inspires!” event at the end of this month take place in a venue that celebrates such roguish sea-fairing men? Well, it turns out pirates can teach us a lot about leadership.
Some of history’s most famous buccaneers, such as Sir Morgan, practiced modern management methods over their crew of rascals crowded in often leaky sea-going vessels. Pirate ships needed people with commanding presence to guide men on their mission. At the same time, effective pirate captains knew they needed to avoid being too overbearing with the men they commanded – or the unfortunate captain might be marooned on a desert island or sent off on a dive down to Davey Jones’ locker.
Pirate ship captains frequently proved to be much better leaders than the often sadistic and dictatorial captains of merchant and military ship vessels. There was a practical reason for this. Occasionally, merchant vessel captains grew so autocratic that their crew mutinied and joined better managed pirate ships. A smart pirate captain knew that he was outnumbered by the crew, so he made sure not to step over that line.
For their Golden Age in the 1600s and early 1700s, pirates also were very progressive in their ship-board politics. They created a form of democracy to govern themselves. A century before Madison and the American Founding Fathers came up with the U.S. Constitution, pirates used written contracts on their ocean-going vessels. These rules were collectively agreed upon before an expedition set sail. Crew members also sometimes voted on matters of importance.
Perhaps the effectiveness of this pirate ship-board democracy might have influenced the future of the United States and other republics. A century before James Madison and the other Founding Fathers created the Constitution, the experiment in constitutional self-government had proven itself on board many pirate ships. If a motley group of violent sea raiders could create a contract to keep themselves united on course using a system of checks and balances, the Founding Fathers might have reasoned, perhaps the new nation the American people were forming might also benefit from a document designed to keep in balance the control of political power.
If you want to attend Leadership Morgan Hill’s Caribbean-themed “Leadership Inspires!” fiesta, make sure you get your tickets before Aug. 29. (For reservations, visit www.leadershipmorganhill.org or call (408) 778-1433.) You won’t want to be left at port as this pirate party sets sail for fun and adventure.
