A fishing boat cruises past some of Portland's wharves. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

GMRI to buy Portland’s Union Wharf

The past and the future of Portland’s working waterfront will be melded together when the Gulf of Maine Research Institute completes its purchase of Union Wharf from the Poole family, owners of the historic wharf since at least 1861, later this year. GMRI announced the impending purchase on Nov. 15.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Contagiously positive’ Saltonstall honored

When it comes to climate change and our progress in addressing it, sometimes all we hear is how bad things are. It is, after all, a formidable situation which requires a serious attitude. Unfortunately, seriousness often takes the form of grimness, but that’s not how Sam Saltonstall, the Natural Resources… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering my ‘summer girl’ days

How did we get to September already? July felt like August and August felt like a gust of wind. Surely, after the time warp that was summer 2021, I could avoid experiencing the strange mix of emotions that hits me around Labor Day. But no, here it is, right on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The essential kitchen arts

Art, according to one Merriam-Webster definition, is a skill acquired by experience, study, or observation. Let’s tweak that to “and/or” observation. If that definition works for you, then, because it’s a joy to practice an art, let’s apply it to the part of daily life that starts in the kitchen.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Don’t mow the milkweed

Not too far from my house, on one of my usual walking routes, is a huge field. A house sits on the field far back from the road, so that any signs of habitation are invisible to passersby, but the field covers an immense swath of South Shore Road. It… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

It’s time to build leadership skills

Discussions about leadership are everywhere—in books, in the media, in our daily conversations. But what does leadership mean? How do you define an effective leader? At the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, we recognize that community projects cannot move forward without effective leaders at the helm. As a… SEE MORE

Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh row toward the Sirius to board, with a helping hand from Joe Burke of North Haven. The couple charted and flew the great circle route to China, a course still followed by airliners. PHOTO: COURTESY NORTH HAVEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Working Waterfront

North Haven to China, a flight that ‘staggered the world’

This story first appeared on the website Maine Island Living and is reprinted here by permission. “An hour and a half before they took off, you could have walked across the Thoroughfare on the rowboats,” wrote Ellen Pratt (1906-2000) of the day Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh left North… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art writer Carl Little honored

The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation, dedicated to recognizing and rewarding writers who make art accessible to general audiences, have awarded a $50,000 lifetime achievement award to poet and art critic Carl Little of Mount Desert. For more than 30 years, Little has been one of the primary cultural connections… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Institute names new president

The Island Institute, a community development nonprofit serving Maine’s island and coastal communities, has hired Anthony (Tony) Chatwin as its new president. Emily Lane, chairwoman of the Institute’s board of trustees, noted that Chatwin’s background matched the organization’s priorities. “With more than 20 years of experience in building sustainable communities,… SEE MORE

he Gold Ball-winning basketball team from Narraguagus High School, 2016, with their coach, the lobster fisherman "Olivia Marshall" in the book, whose real name is Heather Thompson (back row, far right). The team is aboard the fishing boat Thompson named in honor of the championship team. “Audrey Barton”—whose real name is Kelli Kennedy—is in the back row, third from left. “Mckenna Holt”—whose real name is Laniew Perry—is in the back row, next to Olivia Marshall.

Working Waterfront

‘Downeast’ strikes a blow against ‘the geography of nowhere’

In this difficult time of failed public expectations, when thoughtful people wonder where to look for hope, I keep returning in my own mind to the thought of the renewal of the rural communities… But to be authentic, a true encouragement and a true beginning, this would have to be… SEE MORE