Buck up before signing up November 10, 2022 RWhitcomb-editor Statue of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neil (1888-1953) as a boy, overlooking the harbor of New London, Conn., where his family had a summer place and where some of his plays were based. As a young adult, he spent several years working in the merchant marine. “The sea hates a coward.’’ —From the O’Neill play Mourning Becomes Electra