” Women and the Sea,” at the Portland Stage Company until recently, should add a word to its title. It should be called “Working Women and the Sea.” The script is based on oral histories compiled from interviews with over 40 Maine women. From these, 17 adult characters are represented on stage. Fifteen are directly
The island’s not real, but it feels that way
We know as much as we know about the history of Maine islands thanks in large part to Charles McLane and his wife, the late Carol Evarts McLane. The couple devoted more than 20 years to researching and writing their monumental and invaluable four-volume study of the archipelago that stretches from the Kennebec River to
A Small Part of a Big Mind
Reading this book reminded me, as it will remind others, what it’s like to explore a magnificent mind. Edward Myers (1917-2002) was an original, to say the least – philosopher, mathematician, aquaculture and fisheries expert, historian, economist, political theorist, sailor, wharfinger, the list goes on and on – who happened to live here on the
Fishing from Your Boat
Recreational boaters from Newfoundland to the Equator have probably all had the same thought at some time, that they would like to make the most of their environment while sailing along and catch some dinner to boot. However, fishing under way is not so simple, as countless would-be anglers have discovered after dragging a line
Lost Lobsters, Aberrant Gulls
This book was first published in 1996, and while its basic premise has not yet been incorporated into mainstream thinking, Our Stolen Future is making headway, at least in the community of Long Island Sound lobstermen. Recommended by a Long Island Sound harvester attending the First Lobster Town Meeting in Portland last April, the book
Holding Ground scheduled for midsummer release
Holding Ground: The Best of Island Journal, 1984-2004 will appear in July, six to eight weeks later than regular issues of Island Journal. The book has been completed, and the delay is due to the logistics of overseas printing, binding and shipping. The book will go on sale at Maine bookstores and at Archipelago, the
Snyder picked to head Institute programs
In early May, Robert Snyder was appointed Director of Programs at the Island Institute. Snyder joined the Institute in 2002 as the Grants Manager and became the Development Director in 2004. At the Institute, the Programs Director is responsible for Island Fellows, Marine Programs, the Island Schools program and a community grants program. Snyder has
Thinking Like an Archipelago
I recently returned from an international islands conference at Rutgers University that I attended with some skepticism. Eric Hopkins, North Haven’s great painter and glass sculptor, and I came from Maine. The conference aimed to bring together a small handful of writers, artists and academic historians and anthropologists from disparate parts of the planet’s islands
Mainland Security
The Constitution of the United States contains no provision for its arbitrary modification. Fortunately, however, the Framers, apparently recognizing the value of a little interpretive latitude, inserted occasional language allowing for the exercise of broad license now and then. Specifically, for example, the Fourth Amendment guarantees our right to be secure against search, but only
Only the Freshest, Please!
In embracing everything Maine, Fisher has decided to use only locally grown or organic produce for his restaurant. Last January he sat down with Martha Putnam, of Farm Fresh Connection, to discuss his menu plan, asking her, for example, which Maine potatoes might make the best homemade chips? Fisher, the kind of individualist who grew