To the editor:
Thank you for reviewing my book Vanishing Species, Saving the Fish, Sacrificing the Fisherman.
It is especially pleasing to be reviewed in a publication by the Island Institute as much of my family history is defined by sailing trips to Maine. When we look back and try to reconstruct some aspect of family life, we find ourselves asking questions such as, “Oh, wasn’t that the year we picked huckleberries at the tip of Cranberry Island when Tom McMahon rented the little cabin?” Or “Was that the trip where we toured Dan Schrag’s grandfather’s studio on Deer Island?” After sending off this letter I plan to write a check to the Island Institute to continue to receive The Working Waterfront, in anticipation of renewing old memories each month when it arrives.
Amendment 13 of the Sustainable Fisheries Act is expected to be released in August, 2003. This legislation will have a significant impact on how, when and where coastal fishermen in Maine and elsewhere in New England will be allowed to fish. Your decision to review my book could help people with a love of coastal Maine to grasp what trade-offs might be to the new regulations.
When writing the book, I tried many different ways to organize the material, and appreciate that the means I chose may not have been every reader’s choice. But, I am please you continued to read Vanishing Species, and I am honored to be mentioned in the same paragraph as John McPhee, whose writing I greatly admire.
Susan R. Playfair
Cohasset, Massachusetts