The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
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February 7

A poor report card from Maine’s ocean

Climate assessment provides data to spur action
Arctic warming and accelerating ice melt are leading to changes in global ocean circulation. With a northward shift of the Gulf Stream and a retreat of the Labrador Current, more warm, salty, low-nutrient Gulf Stream water is entering the Gulf of Maine.
BY SUSIE ARNOLD
February 6

Remembering trees

The holiday prompts Christmas memories
It began with my younger brother stumbling across a photograph of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree—stunning in fact. It was taken in 1954 but was entirely typical of the many…
BY PHIL CROSSMAN
February 6

Winter’s highs and lows

Quiet life, but weather threats have impacts
“What is winter like on the island?” We’re back at that time of year that summer visitors ask about the most. My standard answer is, “Pretty quiet. We often get…
BY BARBARA FERNALD
February 6

The recipe is just part of the story

Historical, flexible, and just plain weird
It’s a terrible job writing recipes. I know this because during the past 40 or so years, I’ve written around 1,400 of the little stinkers. The biggest chunk of those…
By SANDY OLIVER
February 6

Life prepares for spring

Seeds and growth take hold in winter
Last year, I got myself a Chanukah present, a little thank-you for making it through the year. It was a vertical grow light array, two shelves and four lights. It's…
BY COURTNEY NALIBOFF
February 6

Climbing class cliffs is complicated

Novel veers though gothic, gender themes
The Cliffs starts out with a gothic feel, then steadily shifts its footing to a fairly typical contemporary depiction of the main character’s chaotic emotional life. The plot moves along pretty well overall, the characters are mainly well-drawn...
REVIEW BY DANA WILDE
February 5

Beware of explaining islands to islanders

Readable novel veers a bit toward preachiness
A central conflict of the novel is Mari’s desire to farm a few acres of Harry’s family's land, something his lawyer sister dismisses as not right for the island.
REVIEW BY COURTNEY NALIBOFF
February 5

Susan Webster and Stuart Kestenbaum harmonize

Deer Isle artist, poet create a book to ‘calm our shaken spirits’
Kestenbaum has noted a sense of mortality in some of these poems. Two pieces titled “Eternity” address the end of life, “some pa/rt of me adrift/gone floating o/ver this sweet/and sad world."
REVIEW BY CARL LITTLE
February 5

Digging deep into Maine’s recipe pantry

Sandy Oliver’s latest gathers cooking wisdom and stories
Both books feature Oliver’s homespun stories about recipes, contributors, and history, and offer real insight into authentic Downeast cooking, from both the past and the present. And you don’t need to feel you’ve embarked on scholarly research while perusing recipes here
Review BY TINA COHEN
February 5

Political refugee lands in Portugal

Dennis Bailey finds a home in ‘land of sunshine, sardines’
Bailey dives into the details on everything, from how to order a cup of coffee to banking, from how to buy food at a street market to why the roofs are all red.
REVIEW BY TOM GROENING

Island Postcards

EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining

Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.

WATCH ALL ISLAND POSTCARDS

 

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