Working Waterfront

Normal is only skin deep

Words like “horror” and “monsters” accompanied the publicity for John Manderino’s new collection of short stories, But You Scared Me The Most. It may be that my sensibilities have taken a turn toward the twisted, but not only did I find the 26 stories engaging and entertaining, most also were… SEE MORE

In front of the Libby building on Congress Square in the 1970s.

Working Waterfront

Portland in the ’80s: ‘Yuppie go home’

Early in 1977, another new restaurant opened in the Old Port. This one on Middle Street had a tongue-in-cheek sign: “Carbur’s: Since 1977.” A tradition going all the way back to this year! Hilarious! The Cumberland County Civic Center opened then, too, a shrewd public-finance deal. In 1979, the Portland… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Summer afternoon’s splendors and labors

Henry James famously wrote “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Summer afternoon. Out in the garden, the peach trees laden with ripe fruit, about to fall off, or turn into a blob of mold. Yes, you can grow… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The end of an era, the beginning of another

The end of this summer marks the end of an era. After five years, Bill Trevaskis is stepping down from the position of programs director at Waterman’s Community Center. Bill, who also happens to be my husband, moved with me to North Haven when we were callow 24-year-olds. We’d been… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

George Mitchell: Much more than compromise

By Douglas Rooks When I began researching Statesman, my biography of Sen. George Mitchell, I thought I knew the man, at least in his public life. After all, we first met in the Kennebec Journal newsroom in Augusta some 30 years ago, and I followed him from there throughout his… SEE MORE

Boathouses on Islesford catch the late-day sun.

Working Waterfront

Waiting to exhale while reflecting on finite spaces

Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in… Breathe out. If you are reading this while in the throes of a hectic island August, you might be thinking, “Yes, stay calm. Remember to breathe. Soon this pace of all good things will get slower and slower.” If you are reading after Labor… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making lemonade not from lemons, but from love

Island legend, writer and historian Ivan Calderwood left his island home and land to the town of Vinalhaven for the purpose of providing a home for older islanders no longer able to adequately provide for themselves. The Ivan Calderwood Homestead is now Vinalhaven’s eldercare facility, home at any given time… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Letters to the editor: Family leave, Portland and kayaking

Congrats on family leave To the editor: The more I know of the Island Institute, the more I respect and appreciate your work. One small part of that work, The Working Waterfront, is by far my favorite publication. A wonderful variety of important issues, delightful columns, photos and more. What… SEE MORE

Tourists enjoy a stroll on Rockland's breakwater in late July.

Working Waterfront

Linda Bean goes coop, St. Croix Island erodes

It's close to 90 degrees in the Midcoast as this is being written, tourists are strolling the streets of Rockland and for most of them, it’s cooler than the air they left at home. Last week, the Maine Lobster Festival returned to town for its 59th year, and the U.S.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A dozen years of work on ocean acidification paid off

There’s something about the timeframe of 10 to 12 years. I’ve read that you can master something new in this amount of time—and ultimately, if you are brave enough, have four different careers in a lifetime. The field of sustainability studies has shown that system-level changes take an average of 10 to 12 years. At… SEE MORE