Working Waterfront

A fresh look at Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Having just been informed that a crowd of angry men was gathering, threatening to kill him, 52-year-old Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain buttoned his coat and strode to the rotunda of the capitol building in Augusta and dared those assembled to kill him. He was there to keep the peace and… SEE MORE

Stow Wengenroth, “Low Tide,” August 1931, lithograph, edition of 51, 9 1/16 by 12 9/16 inches Edition of 51. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE TIDES INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM OF ART.

Working Waterfront

Stow Wengenroth: On the Eastport waterfront

In 1927, the Grand Central Art School started offering summer classes in Eastport. Founded in 1923 by painters John Singer Sargent, Walter Leighton Clark, and Edmund Greacan, the esteemed school located in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal decided to establish a chapter way Downeast. [caption id="attachment_38166" align="alignleft" width="450"] Keith… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An island’s hold on family

High Time TidePool Press (2023) As the state ferry approaches North Haven in the Fox Island Thorofare, my eye goes to the large, sprawling cottage-style mansions that line neighboring Vinalhaven’s cliffs to the south. The buildings, which in the offseason are shuttered, or at least without signs of life, date… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Weeded needed in gardening book

A Maine Garden Almanac: Seasonal Wisdom for Making the Most of Your Garden Space By Martha Fenn King, Down East Books (2023) There are a lot of books I end up reading because they have “Maine” in the title. Even if not for review purposes, I’d probably grab them anyway,… SEE MORE

A fishing boat hauls traps with Stonington in the background. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

A curated coast—stories preserved and amplified

If you visit 44 North Coffee’s Stonington location through mid-October, you’ll notice something different about the beloved cafe. This year, 44 North is hosting an exhibit of photographs, audio stories, and a soundwalk by The First Coast, a collective of storytellers and documentarians that I helped curate. Founded in 2016… SEE MORE

“The Harbor, Sea Smoke,” by Peter Ralston.

Working Waterfront

Rockland gallery featuring Ralston images

Blue Raven Gallery at 374 Main Street in Rockland announces its first collaborative exhibition on Aug. 18 with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. featuring the pre-eminent Maine photographer Peter Ralston and his release of a new, limited-edition suite of large prints, The Raven Edition. The exhibition will include over 50… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

David Vickery visits Olson Wharf

In an Instagram post in early June, painter David Vickery shared a recent painting, “Flag Buoys, Olson Wharf,” accompanied by this cursory description: “Down at the end of my road, where there’s usually something interesting.” Vickery lives on a lane off Hathorne Point Road in Cushing, a quarter mile from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Reader’s offerings reflect passion for place

Every year since 2006 the Maine Seacoast Mission has published The Island Reader, a wide-ranging anthology of poetry, prose, and artwork by residents of Maine’s unbridged islands. And every year the literary/artistic smorgasbord reminds us that islands are special places that people call home. The 2023 edition, no. 17, gets… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Home to Downeast for compass reset

Just East of Nowhere By Scot Lehigh (Islandport Press, 2023) Anyone passingly familiar with Eastport will recognize it immediately in Scot Lehigh’s new novel, Just East of Nowhere. We get a tour of the place in the first pages when young Dan Winters gets off a bus at Perry Corner… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Washington County atlas revived

If you enjoy exploring old maps, photos, and other pathways of Downeast history, you’ll find inspiration in artist-editor Jane Crosen’s new Coastwise edition of Colby’s 1881 Atlas of Washington County. For over 40 years the Penobscot mapmaker has been creating hand-drawn maps of Maine coastal and lake regions, published as… SEE MORE