Working Waterfront

Penobscot Marine Museum digitizes Maynard Bray collection

The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, known for its extensive and growing collection of vintage maritime and New England photos, has begun a campaign to digitize images made by marine photographer Maynard Bray. Museum archivist Matt Wheeler will speak about Bray and the work at the Camden Public Library at… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A history of Maine, wrapped in a warm quilt

Quilting has been a favorite pastime in Maine for centuries, first to provide warm coverings on cold winter nights, then rapidly evolving into a popular hobby for individuals and community groups. Women (and sometimes men) gathered for quilting bees to work on projects. Quilting bees also provided opportunities for socialization… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When jobs have deadly consequences

Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains Kerri Arsenault (2020) Review by Tina Cohen Mill Town, with no specific location in its title, could refer to a lot of places. Here it refers to Rumford, where Arsenault grew up in the adjacent town of Mexico, across the Androscoggin River from the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Till the landslide brought me down

Landslide By Susan Conley Review by Carl Little Early in season one of the FX series Fargo the ex-stripper Gina Hess says of her misbehaving teenage sons, “They’re wolves.” This appraisal came to mind near the beginning of Susan Conley’s fourth novel Landslide when the chief protagonist and narrator, Jillian… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Minke whale skeleton finds second life

Photos by William Trevaskis Students, staff, and visitors to North Haven Community School are greeted by a new, impressive sight when they enter the school grounds: a 26-foot minke whale skeleton, mounted in a spruce timber frame. The display is the culmination of a years-long project, begun in 2016 when… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A return to the joy of cooking and eating

Eventide: Recipes for Clambakes, Oysters, Lobster Rolls, and More From a Modern Maine Seafood Shack Arlin Smith, Andrew Taylor, Mike Wiley with Sam Hiersteiner Is it because of COVID and quarantining, not dining in restaurants, or cooking special meals to share with family and friends for months now that I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A well-lived life in Maine boat design

Of Watercraft and Function: A Biography of Naval Architect Geerd N. Hendel By Roger Allen Moody A documented, remembered career is a form of immortality. A career as long and distinguished as that of Geerd Hendel, the German-American naval architect who worked in New York, Boston, Bath, and Camden deserves… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winslow Homer: A legacy of strong seeing

Images courtesy Portland Museum of Art Winslow Homer settled at Prout’s Neck in Scarborough in 1883, 63 years after Maine became a state, and it was a momentous move: He would paint some of his most acclaimed canvases while in residence over the next 27 years. With the ocean practically… SEE MORE

Arts

Working Waterfront

‘Creeping creepy’ stalks island in The Other Mrs.

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica Park Row Books, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2020 For centuries, there’s been nothing like an island on the remote coast of remote Maine to spark the imaginations of writers and artists, both native and non-native. It can be an idyllic summer paradise of sailboats and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Family ties fray on a Maine island

The Guest Book By Sarah Blake; Flatiron Books, New York Review by Dana Wilde Toward the very end of Sarah Blake’s insightful novel, The Guest Book, one of the principal characters is collecting mussels on the shore of fictional Crockett’s Island, which lies just across a narrows from the real… SEE MORE