Island Journal

Will Frost’s Rum Runner Boats

With Prohibition in effect from 1920-1933, a thriving trade in alcohol quickly arose in dozens of Maine and Canadian maritime communities. Researcher and writer Daniel Sheldon Lee asserts in The Maine Lobster Boat, History of an Iconic Fishing Vessel: “Due to this proximity to Canada, during Prohibition, Maine would supply… SEE MORE

History

Island Journal

Art of Penobscot Bay: A Sampling

When my brother David and I set out to select paintings for our fourth collaboration, Art of Penobscot Bay, we wanted to feature as many different locales as possible. There were many, from the wonderful assortment of shoreline towns to a diverse archipelago that includes Criehaven, Matinicus, North Haven, Vinalhaven,… SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

Island Town Government: Conflict, Color, and Committment

Around 1960 I attended a Vinalhaven town meeting as part of a high school class activity dealing with civic government. One item on the town’s agenda concerned the repair of a small bridge connecting two substantial (everything’s relevant) island land masses that were a couple hundred feet apart, but which… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Samuel French Morse: A Trip Outside

“A poet, more likely than not, has to take his local identity for granted. If he feels he is ‘from away,’ he will be. If he is too much concerned about where he comes from or where he is, what he makes of the relation between himself and his part… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Where the Harbor Bears Your Name

Joseph William Lunt wakes up before the sun in a house that sits on a harbor that shares his name. Aboard his lobster boat Heritage, Lunt does what his ancestors have been doing for over two centuries—he harvests the bounty of Downeast Maine waters. His wife Teenie Lunt also fishes… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Everybody Has Got a ‘Bajupa’ Story

Arthur “Art” Hupper was one of the hardest workers on the St. George Peninsula. According to his son David, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a day of work for Art was just that—nearly 24 hours of labor. He would buy lobsters on remote Maine islands like Monhegan and Matinicus and… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Double Vision — The Art of Eric Hopkins

It was already late afternoon when Eric Hopkins picked us up in his boat at Gotts Island for the trip to his studio on North Haven. Eric knows how to look at islands. And we were on our way to look with him. There, represented in oils, we would see oceans and islands viewed from the air, from the sea, and from great distance. The angles were strange and marvelous. Islands we thought we knew were transformed. SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

Suhail Bisharat – A Natural Diplomat on Chebeague

The power is out on half of Chebeague Island. Most toilets aren’t flushing and a few roads have downed trees across them, but the high winds haven’t stopped the boats from running. At the ferry landing, Suhail Bisharat stands with his hands behind his back, smartly dressed and smiling warmly.… SEE MORE

Island Journal

North Haven’s Hub by the Water

It’s an iconic rural image—a group of old-timers gathered around a general store’s woodstove, drinking coffee and swapping lies. For the island community of North Haven, that gathering spot was Waterman’s store, a stone’s throw from the ferry landing and the Fox Islands Thorofare anchorage, where the lobster fleet mingles… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Island Institute’s Fellows Program Marks 25 Years

The first Island Institute Fellows were placed in communities 25 years ago in 1999, with the program aiming to provide more hands and minds for island, and then mainland towns to tackle the endless challenges to their viability. Beyond meeting that important goal, the program also trained successive generations of community leaders who continue to serve Maine and beyond. SEE MORE

Communities