Working Waterfront

Oh for a life on the rolling sea…

First things first: I have to express my gratitude to all of you who reached out after my last column. I did, very fortunately, find out that my biopsy was benign. I also learned a lot about how commonly experienced, and how terrifying, this process is for so many people.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

History, fiction tell tale of escaping slavery

The plantation they bought was outside the city along the St. Johns River, part of an escape route for runaways. Dr. Mitchell had trouble building a medical practice as his opposition to slavery set him apart. He gained acceptance after helping locals fight off a Yellow Fever epidemic. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bike and walk to a better climate future

Climate change arguably is one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation, as a world. It is a challenge that does not have a single solution, but requires us to deploy a wide range of actions to drastically reduce global warming, pollution, and to prepare for the climate… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Let’s be real about crime anxiety

A couple of months ago I saw a news item about human remains being discovered in Gorham, just west of Portland. I looked for the follow-up story, and it turned out the remains were traced to someone who had recently gone missing and no “foul play” was suspected. What interested… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saving our safe passage sentinels

It took an act of Congress and some well-placed support from then Sen. George Mitchell to seal the deal, resulting in the transfer of 27 lighthouses into caring hands. SEE MORE

Philip Frey’s “Ready for Lessons” (2023), oil on linen, 30 by 40 inches. PHOTO: COURTESY PHILIP FREY

Working Waterfront

Philip Frey on Hancock Point

The result is a paean to summer, to the quiet that follows a day of waterfront activities. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An honest look at idyllic island life

I'm always grateful for my email deliveries of The Working Waterfront. The edition with Island Institute Fellow Katie Liberman's column was especially poignant (Reflections, “A stark reminder of the need to support our children”). My husband and I live on Roosevelt Island in New York City and have summered on… SEE MORE

This image shows a dead whale in Vinalhaven’s Carver’s Harbor in 1918. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

What created Maine’s brief whaling industry

Menhaden, also referred to as pogies or mossbunkers, are currently one of several species of bait fish used in the lobster industry. Historically, these fish were harvested for entirely different purposes: leather production and agriculture. By the mid-19th century, numerous oil processing plants were established in Maine to refine menhaden… SEE MORE

A summer scene on Swan's Island. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

It’s the people part of island life

History is made and told by people. It’s happening as you read this newspaper. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering Gramp—role model and patriot

The Fourth of July reminds me each year of a memorable Independence Day Celebration in 1984, when my grandfather, Edwin (Ted) Maddox, a highly regarded islander, selectman, and staunch Republican state legislator representing Vinalhaven and North Haven and the rest of Knox County, was leading the Vinalhaven parade, as he… SEE MORE