Early in his presentation, Todd Little-Sebold shows a photo of a Ku Klux Klan gathering in 1926 that drew about 30,000. Mississippi? Georgia? Nope. Portland, Maine. The photo often prompts the question, “You mean the Klan was active in progressive, hip Portland?” he said. “And the answer is yes.” A closer examination of the photo shows what appear to be…

The town of Stonington’s fish pier has a Facebook page. In addition to informational posts, the page features photos of the pier and its surroundings taken by visitors. There are…

Whenever I can listen and do whatever else I’m doing simultaneously, I tune in to At the Hop on WERU-FM (89.9) on Saturday afternoons. Host Rick Foster’s regard for the…

The photo accompanying this month’s column shows the Ross Towing Co. tug Walter Ross with a four-master in tow down the Penobscot River, seen from the Stockton Springs shore, off…

The closest I have come to regretting giving up my lobster license was this past summer. My father's still an active fisherman, and as we had a beer and looked…

For mainlanders like myself, a 15-minute ferry ride to Chebeague Island is a novel way to start a Thursday morning. The parking fee and the shuttlebus ride? Economic and logistical…

Anyone who has lived, summered, or visited an island off the coast of Maine would agree that they are very special. They are incredibly beautiful, there is a strong sense…

The busy season on the island begins. Lobster boats are being launched after their winter on dry land and the harbor starts to fill with familiar names and colors. All…

Hung in bunches in the cellarway, our onions sprout. Apples stored in spackle buckets soften. So do beets. Our carrots sprouted feathery tops but we ate them all before they…

A while ago, I joked to someone online that my pandemic memoir would be titled The Year Without Singing. Although nobody has asked me to write a pandemic memoir (yet!),…