Working Waterfront

Democracy dormant: How we got here

Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America By Heather Cox Richardson, Viking/Random House (2023) Eventually, evil implodes. This might be the only perennial history lesson Heather Cox Richardson omits to highlight in Democracy Awakening, her new book outlining the social and political history of the United States. This corollary… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster lady’s story meets lobster kids

The Lobster Lady By Alexandra Hinrichs, illustrations by Jamie Hogan; Charlesbridge Publishing (2023) Island Readers & Writers, an organization connecting children and books in communities on Maine’s islands and Washington County, recently sent Alison Johnson, director of its school programs, with author Alexandra Hinrichs, to Vinalhaven to speak to its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kozak’s Acadia

[caption id="attachment_38924" align="alignnone" width="650"] One of the many boat trip tours led by ANP ranger-naturalist Maurice Sullivan in the 1930s. Some of them featured singalongs. PHOTO: COURTESY ACADIA NATIONAL PARK[/caption] Images of America: Acadia National Park By Anne Kozak with Josh Winer and Sam Putnam, Arcadia Publishing (2023) The story… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When Vinalhaven had (lots of) fish

When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community By Janna Malamud Smith (DownEast Books, 2023) I’ve been talking about When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community on Vinalhaven with everyone I know. Even at a recent funeral. The story… SEE MORE

“Island Girl (Sofie Lilian Nathan Dowling),” by Janet Badger; linocut, 2009.

Working Waterfront

A ‘Great’ island portrait project

While artists-in-residence at the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation on Great Cranberry Island in 2009, photojournalist Rebecca Buyers and artist Janet Best Badger teamed up to chronicle the lives and visages of a group of islanders. While Badger drew their portraits, Buyers interviewed them. Their project gained attention and admirers through exhibitions at… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The fate of frogs on Oxbow Island

Oxbow Island Gang: Leap Frog By Rae Chalmers, Maine Author Publishing (2023) It’s April break from school and Berend Houtman—known to his family and friends as Bear—can’t wait to visit his grandmother, Sally Parker, on Peaks Island. He has to jump onto the ferry at the last minute—the first of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tragedy and hope in debut novel

The Road to Dalton By Shannon Bowring (Europa Editions, 2023) Shannon Bowring’s debut novel, The Road to Dalton, has earned high praise from some Maine all-star authors. Richard Russo has a rave on the front, as does Morgan Talty; Susan Conley’s is on the book’s back cover. But apart from… SEE MORE

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

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