Gilkerson began his writing career with the publication of Gilkerson on War in 1964 and The Scrimshander in 1975.[3] In between the publication of his first two books, Gilkerson edited St. Louis Magazine in 1964 and held multiple positions from 1964 to 1970 for the San Francisco Chronicle.[2] Gilkerson resumed his writing career in 1981 and published seven works between the 1980s to 1990s.[3] In the 2000s, Gilkerson started writing a book about pirate history titled Pirate's Passage. Although Gilkerson's intended reading audience was adults, his publisher released the novel as a children's book in 2006.[4]
After the publication of Pirate's Passage, Gilkerson was in talks of creating a movie adaption of his book in 2006.[5] In 2013, it was announced that Donald Sutherland would create a TV movie based on Pirate's Passage.[6] The television movie premiered on CBC Television in 2015.[7] Outside of literature, Gilkerson was an artist who worked in Nova Scotia from 1987 to 2015.[8] As a watercolor painter, his John Paul Jones works were displayed at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in 1987.[9] In 1998, over forty of his paintings were shown at the Independence Seaport Museum.[10]
^ abDyer, Michael P. (2001). "GILKERSON, WILLIAM (1936-)". In Gildmark, Jill B. (ed.). Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 156. ISBN0313301484.
^"Appealing to our inner pirate". Edmonton Journal. 25 November 2006. p. C7.
^Gardner, Jan (August 13, 2006). "Shelf LIfe". Boston Globe. p. D6.
^"Yar! There be a new CBC movie in the works says Donald Sutherland". National Post. September 5, 2013. p. B2.
^Ahearn, Victoria (4 January 2015). "Film brings Sutherland Home". The Province. p. C14.
