The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
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May 23
A once rare bird now eats another
Unintended consequence of a great conservation success stories
If Ben Franklin had known in 1782 what the bald eagles would be up to in Maine in 2015, he might have pushed harder to select the wild turkey as the national bird. Since being nearly wiped out in the late 1960s due to DDT and other pesticides, eagles and other birds of prey have made a dramatic comeback. However, this…
May 23
A rock ‘n roll novel with a melancholy, humorous heart
A rock star, his doctor and a super-fan populate engaging story
Vexation Lullaby By Justin Tussing/Catapult, 2016 Mild-mannered and romantically abandoned doctor Peter Silver is not accustomed to mystery or adventure, but finds himself steeped in both when he trades in…
May 23
Feasting with the summer folk an island tradition
Good food, ravenously consumed, seasoned with laughter
Just beneath the surface in most men there lurks a real grub. My wife offered this wry observation after I described to her the behavior of the men in attendance…
May 23
May’s mayhem includes jewelry making, study and travel
‘To do’ list has columnist’s head spinning
Last November and December I made plans to be away from Little Cranberry Island during the first two weekends in May. It all sounded so great at the time, and…
May 23
Saving community underpinnings means recognizing them
Will future generations be nostalgic about general stores?
A friend of mine once wrote that fishing villages came in to existence once they began to disappear. Once seaside villages were lost to other forms of development, nostalgia over…
May 23
Small, island-town values play well in big world
From Islesford, to MMA, to the seven seas
Benjamin Stevens of Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) graduated this month from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. Every year, people from Maine’s islands buy all sorts of things. We buy clothes and…
May 23
Something old, something hewn…
Old barn frames used to build new house in Winter Harbor
The interior features new and old wood. “The great thing about something like this is that it solves any interior design issues, because it is the interior design,” said Tom…
May 23
Tales from the boatyards
MDI’s colorful boatbuilding history recounted through local voices
Boatbuilding on Mount Desert Island By Laurie Schreiber The History Press, 2016 In a small, once-isolated Maine community like Mount Desert Island, before it became a destination resort, boatbuilding was…
May 23
The dangerous work of bringing a green peace
Islesboro’s Peter Willcox tells tales from decades as Greenpeach captain
Greenpeace Captain Macmillan, 2016 Big whales, bigger weather, young men at sea in rickety boats as underdogs in quixotic quests. It’s the stuff of good fiction. It’s also the story…
May 23
Topsham: A history from the Abenakis to I-295
History of region is readable, reliable
Topsham: From the River to the Highlands By Robert C. Williams Just Write Books, Topsham, Maine, 2015 Long before Thomas Purchase in 1628 set up a little trading post in…
Island Postcards
EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining
Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.
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