Working Waterfront

Maine should welcome immigrants… again

Few countries were unscathed by the Great Recession, whose symptoms first appeared in the fall of 2008 and which metastasized six months later as U.S. unemployment rates nearly hit 10%. Scary times, and certainly unprecedented in most of our lifetimes. One country that was hit especially hard was Iceland. The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island landscapes, island stories

Vinalhaven—Portrait of a Maine Island Photos by Joel Greenberg, Narratives by Phil Crossman Vinalhaven—Portrait of an Island is a wonderful, wonderful book. The beautifully composed, nuanced images of Joel Greenberg together with Phil Crossman’s stories are the threads that weave these lovely images together into a fully realized rare experience.… SEE MORE

Children play at one of the stops along the Schoodic Byway.

Working Waterfront

Schoodic scenic highway adds kid appeal

The Schoodic National Scenic Byway was established as a way of reviving a region reeling from a base closure. More than 25 years later, some local folks have broadened the appeal of the 29-mile long road, making it kid- and family-friendly. The Kids Quest installations along the road earned the… SEE MORE

Community

Working Waterfront

Anatomy of a failure: Who killed Quoddy?

Moondoggle: Franklin Roosevelt and the Fight for Tidal-electric Power at Passamaquoddy Bay By Mark C. Borton, Downeast Books (2023) A rival to the Hoover Dam in Eastport? That could have been the Quoddy project to generate electricity from one of the highest tides in the world. For Mainers, the ghost… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Storm damage closes Bean lobster pier

A powerful winter storm that left thousands without power for days and brought devastation to communities all along the Maine coast in December also struck a blow at Linda Bean’s lobster empire, though the ultimate impact on the high-profile business is unclear. The storm that struck just days before Christmas… SEE MORE

Stan Beal’s "Wharf, Beals, Maine,” (2022) collage, 18-inches by 24-inches. IMAGE: COURTESY LITTLEFIELD GALLERY

Working Waterfront

Mary Prince: On Stan Beal’s wharf

While attending St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C. in the late 1960s, Mary Prince drove through Maine on a trip to St. Andrews, New Brunswick. “I felt immediately that Washington County was the place where I wanted to live,” she recalls. And live there she did: In 1983, the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In our spare time…

All the recent noise about AI, artificial intelligence, has left me wondering what we are going to do with all our spare time. AI apparently can learn, solve problems, and plan for the future, which leads me to suspect that considering the state of the world, there was an awful… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

They’re back—cruise ship season underway

Maine’s cruise ship season began April 23 with the arrival in Portland of Holland America’s Zaandam, carrying about 1,400 passengers. A smaller cruise vessel, the Ocean Navigator of the American Queen Voyages line has been in Eastport with crew only since April 10. A live, real-time schedule of cruise visits… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wisdom from my mother-in-law

This month’s deadline at the end of April has me staring at my 70th birthday arriving in May. I admit to having mixed feelings about it, but so far the only birthday that really bothered me was my 40th. I remember having tea with my mother-in-law, Anna, and her friend,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A supreme encounter on Vinalhaven

A few years ago, the chief justice of the United States administered the oath of office to president-elect Barack Obama. Perhaps he was all the while recalling his visit to Vinalhaven the previous summer and comparing this lofty and prestigious Washington moment with that less auspicious occasion on the island.… SEE MORE