Jeri D.W. Spurling at her Islesford home.

Working Waterfront

Big hearts build tiny house for veteran

By Jacqueline Weaver “Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart.” —Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond Architect Jeri D. W. Spurling has dedicated her professional life to serving those in need. In fact, the motto of Spurling Design, based in her home on Islesford in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island life still holds capacity for surprise

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. By Maria Keeler Seated in my office in early June, I am surrounded by layers of evidence that I both work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Who says there’s nothing to do?

By Courtney Naliboff I’m writing this from a point in time two weeks before the end of the school year, one day before the spring concert, and just over a week before my daughter’s preschool graduation. I’m doubled up on meetings more days than not, staring down the barrel of… SEE MORE

he first Model T to arrive on Monhegan was documented by Edward Knowlton.

Working Waterfront

Getting to know the Knowltons

By Carl Little Painter Maud Briggs Knowlton (1870-1956) and her husband, photographer Edward Knowlton (1860-1964), first set foot on Monhegan Island sometime in the 1890s. Traveling from their home in industrial Manchester, N.H., the couple was smitten by this remote, quiet, and picturesque island. Returning every summer thereafter for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islanders and the shame of baggage

By Barbara Fernald It starts at the grocery store on the mainland. I hand my cooler and canvas bags to the cashier, who passes them to the bagger, and I start to unload a full grocery cart. I have an itching need to get the cart unloaded quickly so I… SEE MORE

Historian Renny Stackpole poses with some of the implements used in whaling.

Working Waterfront

The dirty details of whaling’s glory days

By Nancy Griffin Hunting whales, a practice now roundly condemned by most of the world, once was an important part of New England’s economy in many places—especially so on Nantucket Island off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Whaling also was a romantic notion for many young boys who yearned for the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering my dramatic friend John

By Phil Crossman A few years ago, my friend John called to say he was in distress and having a hard time breathing. I called the ambulance and then went right up to his place, a couple of miles out of town. He was lying on the floor and, gasping,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A young person’s take on keeping communities alive

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. By Molly Siegel Shop parties. The term evokes late-night parties in a lobsterman’s trap shop, playing instruments, dancing, and cavorting until… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swimming to, and for the light

The iconic Isle au Haut lighthouse, operating since 1907, is a treasured landmark. Perched beside the mouth of the Isle au Haut Thorofare, it is a beacon for boats and a much-loved sight for all who pass by. The tower is community owned and is in dire need of a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Champlain, an explorer who doesn’t inspire shame

By Tom Groening It was one of the more absurd exchanges the Jerry and George characters have on the TV show Seinfeld, which is saying something. The topic was explorers. Jerry extols the achievements of Magellan. “Oh yeah, my favorite explorer. Around the world? Come on,” he says. “Why, who do you… SEE MORE