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

Orr’s Island’s forgotten attraction

Harriet Beecher Stowe is renowned for her influential 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which played a pivotal role in shaping national perspectives on slavery. During her husband's tenure as a professor at Bowdoin College, Stowe penned this significant work while residing in Brunswick. Her impact on the historical fabric of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The wonders of Maine life

In August 1973, our family arrived in Maine for a one-week vacation on Pemaquid Pond outside Damariscotta. The following year we arrived for two weeks, and then steadily we accumulated more weeks and years until something about Maine felt like home. I was 13 the bicentennial summer in 1976 and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Yes, the rain hurt Maine tourism

During the rainy months of June and July, Aaron Lincoln, captain and owner of the schooner Olad and the cutter Owl out of Camden Harbor, would run into people he knew at the local grocery store. “People were giving me condolences like my dad had died,” he said. “I realized… SEE MORE

Little River Light off Cutler in Washington County.

Working Waterfront

Honoring Maine’s immovable beacons

Lighthouse keeper Willie Corbett knew Velma Johnson was the woman for him when she arrived for a visit in a bosun’s chair strung between a ship’s mast and the island holding Saddleback Ledge Light. “He thought, ‘If she can handle this, she can handle anything,’” laughs his granddaughter, Delia Mae… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Almer Dinsmore honored with ferry name

Living on an unbridged island like Swan’s Island, I knew about the tradition of naming ferries in honor of previous, long-serving captains like our very own Henry Lee and others like Richard Spear and Neal Burgess. When I heard a friend of mine had just been bestowed that honor, I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The joys and spills of medical care

What a ridiculous garment a hospital johnny is. A few months ago, I was found to have cancer of the liver. I was sent to the Pen Bay Emergency Room to have tests done. At the end of a full day of echocardiograms, MRIs, and so forth, of wandering from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Cliff Island lobsterman Teddy Reiner

A chance encounter on Cliff Island, six miles off Portland in Casco Bay, led to a conversation that yielded rich history about lobstering in the 1970s. It started while I was scoping out the island trash and treasures that depart in early June as the “large item” pickup. Edward Reiner,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Buying a house is still your best investment

The path to homeownership can be bumpy. Buyers must withstand bidding wars, contingencies, complex tax laws, and an array of market factors beyond most anyone’s control. Still, buying a house is typically the single best investment a family can make. Homeownership is the largest source of wealth creation in the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Deer Isle’s bounty impresses this Iowan

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. For me, the magic of Maine lies in the food—everything we fish, forage, and farm to feed each other.… SEE MORE