Gary Comer, who died Oct. 4, 2006 after a long battle with cancer, will be remembered mostly for his phenomenal entrepreneurial success in founding and building Lands’ End into a worldwide brand. But from his boyhood days in Chicago, Comer harbored a passion for the sea and for remote places, especially islands and the frozen
From the Deck: DISCOVERY 1607
I stepped into the shop of The Boothbay Harbor Shipyard to see how their replica of DISCOVERY was coming on. I walked around her at floor level. She looked massive with double-sawn frames of angelique and two-inch planking of wana. She is partly planked from the deck down and from the garboards up. I could
An enthusiast connects people with a forgotten passion
Stars are the passion of Peter Lord’s life, a fascination he said he shares with the human race throughout history. “Look at primitive cultures throughout the world,” Lord said. “There is this sense of wanting to be connected with what’s out there.” Since moving with his wife to Bernard on Mount Desert Island three years
Getting to the Bottom of it Natural cotton and wool baby goes into Maine-made baby clothes
Abagail Leavitt wants you to think for a moment about baby butts. More specifically, about what goes on them. Like many new mothers, Leavitt is often preoccupied with diapers. But in addition to thinking about those that go on her son, she also runs her own natural diaper and baby clothes company, Peace Love and
Despite questions, pesticide use persists in coastal towns
During a city autumn celebration at Ellsworth’s waterfront park, a witness saw an event coordinator spraying a can of Raid along the park’s grass, minutes before the children’s events were to open. On that same day, a man and his two dogs took a break from the festivities by lounging on a hill next to
Maine’s Downeast coast brims with wineries
Pine trees, lobster, blueberries…vintage wine. Over the years, the Downeast coast has become the heart of Maine winemaking, with four commercial wineries in Hancock County alone. Why the coast? Dr. David Handley, vegetable and small fruit specialist at the University of Maine, said the ocean’s moderating temperatures help keep grapes alive through Maine winters. “The
Simple Virtues – “If you want money to spend, why not go and earn it?”
Cyrus Curtis grew up in a poor family in Portland and went on to found the Curtis Publishing Company, headquartered in Philadelphia. He became wealthy by publishing the two most iconic monthly magazines of the first half of the twentieth century, Ladies Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post, and a string of newspapers. He bought
Maine’s Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of Its People
Tilbury House Publishers, 2006 Paperback, 448 pages, $35 The Large Contributions of One Percent This new account of more than three centuries of black history in Maine not only begs the question, Why hasn’t this been done before? but answers it — generously, unforgettably, and often poignantly. Indeed, the authors’ accomplishment is remarkable considering that,
A Maine Artist’s Garden Journal
Quintessential Maine, Through its Gardens and Landscapes As the gift-giving holiday season draws nearer, two coffee table books are worth a look. Although both feature the beauty of nature in artistic renditions, they have their differences. One volume offers a visual feast of Maine landscapes seen through the lens of the camera, captured on film
Let Us Give Thanks – For Power Tools
I’ll never forget what’s her name, and the Thanksgiving dinner that came dangerously close to ending up a vegetarian repast, had it not been for some last minute ingenuity in the kitchen. What had been forecast as a relaxing holiday feast developed almost out of nowhere into a perfect storm of misunderstanding and misjudgment, with