Little River Lighthouse, Cutler Maine In July, 2013, my husband and I had the privilege of being honorary lighthouse caretakers at Little River Light on an island off the coast of Cutler, Maine. A dream come true, I'll never forget the experience we had for ten days on the island. We were hosts [...]
What’s Good about being a Ghost? (ghostwriter) There are times in my writing career when I’m asked to ghostwrite a story, that is, write someone else’s story, where they get the byline and I don’t. As a writer who likes to take advantage of any opportunity I can, I usually accept the assignment. Some of [...]
Penfield Reef Light, CT, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com Now’s your chance to buy something you’ve always wanted – a lighthouse! Yes, right now, there are seven different lighthouses up for bid. So how do you buy your own lighthouse? Under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, the General Services [...]
Portland Head Light, ME, photo by Chuck Turk August 7 is National Lighthouse Day, the day on which we honor those majestic towers that were built to protect and guide mariners. Today, those lighthouses are historic symbols of man’s effort to help their fellowman. Many are still active aids to navigation despite modern [...]
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse The Outer Banks, a string of islands off the coast of North Carolina, boasts a chain of lighthouses from the northernmost tip to the farthest south. The purpose of these lighthouses is to warn mariners of shifting shoals that are hazardous to ships. In fact, thousands of ships and [...]
Libby Island Lighthouse, Maine Flash followed Keeper Gleason Colbeth everywhere. Keeper at Libby Island Light, Maine, Colbeth said his medium brown Irish setter was so intelligent she could almost talk. And being the devoted pet that she was, Flash never let her master out of her sight. If Colbeth went to the 1823 [...]
Start Point Lighthouse, Devon, UK Start Point is one of the most exposed peninsulas on the English Coast, running sharply almost a mile into the sea. The rugged, windswept headland was not a popular assignment for the families of lighthouse keepers sent to the 150-year-old lighthouse situated at the end. Winters seemed especially [...]
Casquets Lighthouse, UK, photo courtesy Trinity House Lighthouse keepers had a 24/7 job, but even they had free time, especially on stations where their families weren't allowed. When the sea was peaceful and the duties were done, what did a light keeper do with his time? Of course many lightkeepers liked to fish, [...]
How did I get myself into this mess? Oh, I remember now. I’d said, “Yes,” when the lady who leads our women’s ministry asked me to write a play for their next Christmas brunch. Playwriting had not been on my bucket list, but when I suggested a change of format for the brunch such as [...]
Longships Lighthouse, UK Needles, Eddystone, Longships, Bishop Rock – these well-known lighthouses in the UK are a few of the country’s “rock” lighthouses. The name “rock” denotes that the lighthouse is offshore and not on land. In fact, many of these were built on rocks barely large enough for the lighthouses, yet [...]
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, photo courtesy US Coast Guard Terrible Tilly was not a good place to spend a holiday. Only one of the five lighthouse keepers assigned to Tillamook Rock Lighthouse would win the prime spot in the rotation to spend time with his family on Thanksgiving. The other four would have to [...]
Bishop Rock Lighthouse, UK, photo by Ian Cowe Gordon Partridge checked the lighthouse duty schedule and blew out a breath. It was his turn to do his least favorite job at the lighthouse. With three keepers at Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse, each keeper was assigned duties on a rotating basis. As a result, everyone [...]
Five Fingers Lighthouse, AK, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com. The waters of Alaska are a beautiful place to take a cruise surrounded by snow-capped mountains and pristine forests. But for lighthouse keepers at the Five Fingers Island Lighthouse, loneliness outweighed the beauty of its isolated location. Five Finger Islands, a collection of rocky islets in [...]
Lubec Channel Light, ME, photo courtesy The Lighthouse People When Connie learned that her boyfriend Elson Small was giving up his career with the Merchant Marines to be a lighthouse keeper, she had mixed emotions. She was happy that he would no longer be out at sea, but her idea of marriage had [...]
Cordouan Lighthouse, Francecourtesy USLighthouse Society, uslhs.org In 1580, Henry III of France ordered a new lighthouse to be built at Cordouan Island near the entrance to the Gironde River and the wine port of Bordeaux. But he didn’t want a plain, ordinary lighthouse. He wanted an impressive tower to take the place of the crumbling one [...]