I had always wanted to be a naval officer

Without necessarily intending to, Evelyn Shaw has lived the life of a trailblazer--often on water. Despite a 32-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard, writing 10 books and swimming in the ocean every day for the past 30 years, Shaw doesn’t think of herself as a pioneer as much as simply a person who does what she wants to do. For the 73-year-old La Jollan, that has included becoming a commander in the Coast Guard and being the first woman to complete the Navy War College course by correspondence. Shaw credits her accomplishments to her partner of 40 years, Ada Leeke, a world-literature teacher who edited Shaw’s books and supported her during the often frustrating creative process. Times staff writer Caroline Lemke interviewed Shaw at her home and Don Bartletti photographed her.

I had always wanted to be a naval officer, and it was a ridiculous dream because women weren’t. There had been some yeomanettes during the first world war, but nothing was ever thought of making women able to qualify for any other kind of duty. And this had just been something. I loved the uniform. I loved the ships and the sea, so when it was announced that the procurement office in San Francisco was taking women for officer training, I went there.

But their quota for that month was filled. During the time I was with the Navy, the Coast Guard had openings. They described it as a lifesaving and law enforcement agency in peacetime and protection of peoples at sea and just in general keeping peace and order among the merchant vessels. I liked that idea, so that’s what attracted me. I was 27.

I began in communications and I was a senior watch officer for the 6th Naval District Coast Guard office in Charleston, N.C., during World War II. After the war, we were told that, if we were willing to study, we could stay in the service, and I did. That work I did, they were not obliged to promote you to the next senior rank, but you were obliged to prepare yourself for it. So I prepared for flag rank, meaning I was qualified to be an admiral.

Under conditions that existed, I did the most that anyone could to offer service. Now, for instance, with women going to the academy, I would have been able to advance farther, perhaps, and yet I feel that what happened is maybe better for me as a novelist. It has left me free to do that work. I think most people can do the service if they have the proper attitude. It’s made, as one friend put it, so a window washer could do it. In other words, everything’s all laid out for you, and it’s a happy way of life for a vast variety of people. But not everyone can write novels, and if I were sent here with a purpose, writing seems to be mine, so I think it worked out just fine.

It’s been almost exactly 30 years since I began swimming. I wasn’t in good health. It was partly the strain of earning a living and writing novels. And, when I was in the Coast Guard actively, I couldn’t do all that without a certain amount of strain, especially if I wanted to do it all correctly. Some friends of ours who loved the beach came from out of town, and I went swimming with them in the afternoons and I was amazed at how much better I felt immediately, not in the first day, but just over a period of getting used to doing it and having a routine.

Every afternoon we would swim, so, when they left, I just continued it. At first if it would look as if it was going to rain or if it was a little chilly, I’d think, “Well, shall I or shall I not?” I thought, this is ridiculous. Either I do it or I don’t. So I do it every day, no matter what.

It really does something. You can be very tired and, especially if in writing, that’s a consuming part when you are creating something, there’s something at work on you that drains you. Then you go in this water, and sometimes the colder the better. It shocks you back to yourself.