Working Waterfront

Urban stories told with an urban attitude

Why I Don’t Write and Other Stories By Susan Minot; 176 pages, hardcover, $25. In American short fiction of the past 50 or 60 years, there is to my ear a certain distinct prose style that a lot of creative writing types work hard to emulate, often, or usually, or… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The woman behind the ‘hidden’ food

Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story Remaking a Life From Scratch By Erin French You’ve probably heard of Erin French. She started off in Belfast hosting “secret suppers” in her apartment, and then moved into the space downstairs which she turned into a restaurant. With the loss of that in a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The truth is out there… or not

Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act By Nicholson Baker; Penguin Press, 2020 One of my many unproven cultural theories that hasn’t changed much for decades goes like this: In 1914 the world went insane. It showed no signs of recovering until the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Doctor recounts 30 years of island practice

Go By Boat: Stories of a Maine Island Doctor By Chuck Radis (Down East Books, 2021) Dr. Chuck Radis provides a front row seat to what life is like for a practicing doctor living on Peaks Island. Although he now practices rheumatology in Portland, he and his wife have lived… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Caring for our elders: A call to action

Maine’s getting old, faster than any other state. Now is the time for “policymakers and lawmakers to think boldly about how best to address Mainers’ needs for long-term care services.” That call to action was issued more than a decade ago. The 2010 recommendations by experts convened by the Maine… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

My Downeast adventure has a surprise ending

Reflections is written by Island 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. When my father and I crossed from Quebec into Maine, the border agent raised an eyebrow as he looked at our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Yes, it is a pretty great bay

I just learned that our world’s oceans have their own day, and it’s June 8, the day I am writing this column. But I want to bring us closer to home. For our 2021 Island Journal publication, which prints soon after this newspaper begins circulating, I wrote about Penobscot Bay,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine should lead when it comes to recycling

More than 30 years ago, Maine set out to recycle or compost 50 percent of our waste annually. Today, we're not even close to achieving that goal. We're going backwards, according to a new report from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Just under 38 percent of our waste was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Reviving Rachel Field whose muse was Cranberry Isles

The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine She Writes Press Early in The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine author Robin Clifford Wood asks, “Why has no one told her story?” The “her” is Rachel Field,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Caring for our elders: A call to action

Maine’s getting old, faster than any other state. Now is the time for “policymakers and lawmakers to think boldly about how best to address Mainers’ needs for long-term care services.” That call to action was issued more than a decade ago. The 2010 recommendations by experts convened by the Maine… SEE MORE