The Portland Steam Packet Company’s coastal passenger steamers Forest City, operating for the 1882 season. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

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Coastal steamers were gateway to Maine woods

The crossing of the Piscataqua River Bridge on I-95 or the aerial descent over Portland Harbor to the jetport signify arrival in Maine for most present-day visitors to Vacationland. Before the development of automobiles, highway systems, and commercial airlines, coastal steamers were the primary mode of travel for visitors from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to shop at a farmers market

If you enjoy frustration, grab a recipe card for a dish you can’t wait to try, and then prowl among vendors at a farmers market. Likely you won’t find everything you need for your recipe at one time. That’s a kind of top-down market experience that you just can’t get… SEE MORE

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Casting line, casting words

Tributaries: Essays from Woods and Waters By Ryan Brod; Islandport Press (2023) Years ago I had a friend who liked to fish. Actually, it went way beyond “liking.” He was obsessed with it. He hounded me to go with him. He recited dreams he had of plodding around in marshes… SEE MORE

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Blue Butterfield’s paean to Maine

Maine, A Love Story Self-published, hardback, 192 pages Standing in line at a community lunch at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor back in February, I overheard two neighbors talking excitedly about Blue Butterfield’s book Maine, A Love Story. They spoke of the personal quality of the narrative and the… SEE MORE

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In hot water, in a good way

Hot Springs: Photos and Stories of How the World Soaks, Swims, and Slows Down By Greta Rybus (Ten Speed Press, 2024) Greta Rybus, photographer and author of the new book Hot Springs, introduces readers to some stunning places that are dedicated to allowing people to enjoy the benefits of immersion… SEE MORE

“Clarence Hilyard” by David Estey, 1988 oil on canvas, 10” x 8.”

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James Fitzgerald at Katahdin

One of Clarence’s predecessors, William Wingate Sewall, took on a sickly young Teddy Roosevelt at the camps and built him up to be a vigorous young man... SEE MORE

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Remembering an island icon

Delly—whose full name was Dallas Levi Anthony—was a pianist, a wonderful baritone, a terrific cook and baker, precipitously mischievous, and a help to all. A friend recalls that Delly let him and his brother, nine- and ten-year-olds, tag along up into the bell tower of the Union Church to take… SEE MORE

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Those who served at back of the boat

I’m reposting an abridged version of a column from May 2012. I smile thinking of all the different people Bruce and I recalled and what fun we had doing it. On Little Cranberry Island sternmen stories abound! Most of the lobster fishermen in our area take an extra person or… SEE MORE

Boats off Stonington. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

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Stark reminder of need to support children

Some of the kids in our program don’t have a stable home life or the certainty of knowing where their next meal is coming from. SEE MORE

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Hope: A framework for climate action

Hope is a framework for action. There is a great distinction between hoping (which is all about action) and wishing (which is passive, having a desire but believing there is nothing we can do). SEE MORE