Nevin Campbell was born into an accomplished family. His father was the noted literary agent Sir David Campbell, and his mother was a law professor at Cambridge University.
Campbell stood six foot five, and as a student he excelled at the pole vault. He once dreamed of representing England at the Olympic Games, but a fourth-place finish at the trials left him one spot shy. Years later he told CNN, “I vowed to never finish out of the money again.”
Nevin Campbell was fifty-six years old when Jason Lambert invited him to attend the Grand Idea voyage. Lambert knew Campbell from a deal they did to get Meteor launched. He was interviewed on the deck of the Galaxy before the ill-fated journey began.
NEVIN CAMPBELL: “I know Jason says we are here to change the world, but I’m afraid that’s a bit lofty for me. I’ll be happy to listen to the others speak, learn a few things, and perhaps get a tan. My colleagues say I’m too pale from working all the time.”
REPORTER: Campbell and his wife, Felicity, divorced in 2012. They had three children. At the time of his death, Campbell was engaged to the British actress Noelle Simpson. She posted a message on Instagram thanking the public for their condolences and asking the media to respect her privacy during this difficult time.
Sea
We have survived our tenth day at sea, my love. This is due to fate, blind luck, or the Lord in the boat. Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore.
Yesterday was another test. Much of the morning we sat in silence, hearing the waves splash. None of us wanted to speak the obvious.
Finally, Yannis did.
“How are we going to stay alive,” he asked, “without water?”
Just the mention of water made me thirsty. I haven’t written to you about thirst, Annabelle, because the less I focus on it the better. But it is a powerful need. You never think about it until you can’t quench it, and then the thought consumes you. Your lips crave moisture. Your throat feels dry as wood. I try to create saliva on my tongue by fantasizing about beverages, Coca-Cola over ice cubes, or a cold beer filling a tall glass, thoughts so real I can feel the liquid going over my teeth. But that only makes me thirstier. It is a unique suffering to be denied the thing your body most craves. All your concentration funnels down to one thought: How can I get it?
“What about that solar still?” I asked Geri.
“There’s a hole in it,” she said, shaking her head. “Every time I patch it, it blows again.”
Nina turned to the Lord. He was rubbing the dark whiskers on his chin.
“Can’t you do something?” Nina pleaded. “I know you want everyone to believe in you first. But don’t you see how worried we are?”
He squinted against the sun.
“Worry is something you create.”
“Why would we create worry?”
“To fill a void.”
“A void of what?”
“Faith.”
Nina drew closer to the man. She put out her hands. “I have faith.” Jean Philippe scooted over and put his hands on top of hers. “So do I.” Little Alice glanced up. Perhaps that made three. I felt a sudden division in the boat, as if we’d been sorted by our beliefs. I suppose, when I think about it, much of the world is separated this way.
“Please help us,” Nina whispered. “We’re so thirsty.”
The man looked only at Alice. Then he closed his eyes and leaned back. It seemed like he was taking a nap. What type of response was that, Annabelle? As I keep saying, he is maddening.
But as he slept, the sky began to change. A ribbon of white clouds grew to large puffs, and those white puffs began to gray and thicken. Soon they blocked the sun.
A few minutes later, raindrops fell. Slowly at first. Then heavier. I saw Lambert tilt his head, his mouth gaping open, swallowing the droplets. Nevin gasped, “Is this real?” Yannis ripped off his shirt and so did Jean Philippe, rubbing the fresh water over their salt-crusted skin. As the shower turned to a downpour, I heard Nina laughing.
“Grab anything that can collect water!” Geri hollered.
I found the notebook tub and dumped the contents under the canopy. Then I raced out to catch the raindrops. Geri was doing the same with the bailer. Jean Philippe held up two empty cans and let the fresh supply splash into it.
“Thank you!” he screamed to the heavens. “Oh, thank you, Bondyé!”
We were so busy rejoicing in the storm, we didn’t realize how much water was collecting in the bottom of our raft. I moved my knees and slipped. The plastic box spilled its water everywhere.