Former Lewes resident recognized with international book award
A historical biography by former Lewes resident Jim Ruth received honors in Readers’ Favorite’s 2025 International Book Awards. “The Pursuit,” was awarded third-place in the non-fiction genealogy category.
Tracing Ruth’s family ancestry in America, the book spans more than 300 years.
Chapter one, “Land Ho – The Pennsylvania Merchant Arrives at Lewes,” begins the morning of Sept. 24, 1733. From the deck of the brigantine Pennsylvania Merchant, the author’s fifth great-grandfather Peter Ruth, and his family, catch their first glimpse of land silhouetted on the horizon – the first sighting of dry land after more than nine torturous weeks at sea. Around 8 p.m. that evening, just inside the elbow of Cape Henlopen, the Merchant drops anchor. The Ruths’ first night in America is at a burgeoning anchorage called Lewes, in the English colony of Delaware.
Ruth was an active member of the Lewes-Rehoboth Rotary Club for nearly 10 years. For the last five years, he chaired the club’s signature community service project, Flags For Heroes. In December 2021, after 17 years in Lewes, the magnetic tug of grandchildren pulled Jim and his wife Kathy back to Rockville, Md.
