Working Waterfront

Peter Kilgore’s island poetry

[caption id="attachment_31703" align="alignleft" width="350"] Peter Kilgore[/caption] In some alternate history of Casco Bay, Peter Kilgore is the poet laureate of Long Island. His terse, descriptive lyrics written during the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s evoke so purely the sights, sounds, and sensibilities of the island as experienced by human beings, if… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A prince of tides builds his own pools

Life Between the Tides By Adam Nicolson (2021) Review by Tina Cohen Adam Nicolson is a British writer with who’s written on history, landscape, and literature, so it is no surprise that his book seemingly focused on coastal ecology— life between the tides—would include those other interests as well. He… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A survey of recent Maine settlement

Sideshots: Stories from a Land Surveyor’s Traverse through the District of Maine By John T. Mann, illustrated by Earle Mitchell (2020) Review by Dana Wilde In the 1970s, Maine was changing, especially along the coast. After nearly a century of being a summer destination for tourists and hideout for the… SEE MORE

Vinalhaven Harbor FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Understanding a man’s hidden fear

Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships (2021) By Avrum Weiss I read Hidden in Plain Sight: Men’s Fears of Women and immediately asked myself “What is he talking about’?” I’ve not been in as many relationships as lots of men my age, but… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How anti-government sentiment was harnessed

At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump By Amy Fried and Douglas B. Harris; Columbia University Press University of Maine political science professor Amy Fried’s new book concerns a pattern in recent political history you may very well think quite familiar. At War with Government:… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Photographic proof of Portland’s hip rebirth

Take It Easy: Portland in the 1970s by John Duncan; Islandport Press Review by Dana Wilde Summers in the ’60s my father trundled from Cape Elizabeth to Portland to go to marine chandleries on the wharves. I remember Commercial Street being like something out of a badly filmed B movie.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Book introduces Maine to new neighbors

Dear Maine: The Trials and Triumphs of Maine’s 21st Century Immigrants By Morgan Rielly and Reza Jalali (Islandport Press) Review by Tina Cohen I’ve just read online that in 2021, and 2022 so far, Maine is the “whitest” state in America, at 93.2 percent. (Not far behind are Vermont at… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Native stories keep heritage alive

Stories Our Grandmothers Told Us Edited by Wayne Newell and Robert M. Leavitt Resolute Bear Press Review by Carl Little In his introduction to Kuhkomossonuk Akonutomuwinokot: Stories Our Grandmothers Told Us, Wayne Newell notes that the traditional Passamaquoddy stories he and Robert Leavitt collected “create a bridge between the knowledge… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bernd Heinrich races the clock

Racing the Clock: Running Across a Lifetime By Bernd Heinrich Review by Carl Little Bernd Heinrich boasts a double life. He is a brilliant field scientist, known for ground-breaking work, including numerous articles and books on a host of flora and fauna, from irises and chestnut trees to honeybees and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What’s said and left unsaid

Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout (2021) Review by Tina Cohen People like Lucy Barton can drive me crazy. In Elizabeth Strout’s first novel about her, My Name is Lucy Barton, I had a very different reaction— I liked and was cheering for her through her struggles. Lucy returns in Strout’s… SEE MORE