Working Waterfront

Visiting Kristen Lindquist’s haiku island

The book is dedicated to the poet’s grandparents, Ruth and Wally Lindquist, who took her on childhood trips to Lime Island, Monhegan, the Isle of Skye, and Orkney. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When the helper needs help

Aside from a few friendly staff, Lorraine feels thrown to the wolves... SEE MORE

The inside cover includes Bertie’s hand-written name.

Working Waterfront

Dear diary: 140-year-old journal returns home

Bertie married Fred Hatch and moved to East Boston, where she had three children: Grace, Robert, and Seth Parker. Fred passed away around 1895 due to “phthisis pulmonalis,” known today as tuberculosis. SEE MORE

Rockweed ready for shipping on a ramp in Hancock. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Rockweed study not accurately explained

Rockweed is a slow-growing, wild seaweed on the rocky coast of Maine. It is highly valued as a commercial fertilizer and debates about how rockweed harvesting should be managed are contentious. To address questions about over-harvesting, academic researchers collaborated with commercial companies to test for effects of a single harvest… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Working on the railroad

Back in my weekly newspaper days, I worked with an old-timer who, in those years, was responsible for settling up with the stores that carried our paper. Now that I think about it, he was probably the age I am now, so strike the “old-timer” crack. Bob grew up in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Education, Native status, domestic violence

High quality education To the editor: I read Kim Hamilton’s “From the Sea Up” column in the October issue, “Rewriting the storyline of island schools” (a great title), with much interest. I wholeheartedly agree with her observation that “Schools play an undeniable role in the ecosystem of a thriving island… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The year of the working waterfront

When Island Institute began publishing this newspaper, The Working Waterfront, 30 years ago, we picked our name with intention. We wanted to cover local, critical, and the sometimes hidden yet prescient stories that spoke to the economy, politics, and culture on Maine’s islands and coasts. No other mental image quite… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Navigating 2024

What challenges will 2024 bring to the Maine coast, and how will leaders respond? SEE MORE

Swan's Island summer scene. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

History in the flesh

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. The steamboat went away during World War II. Randy was five. Now, at 87 years old, he has more… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Community connections often rely on internet

It’s not your grandmother simply knowing how to hop on Facebook to swap recipes, it’s her being able to create a health profile and schedule... SEE MORE