The Chappy Ferry Book: A Jaws Moment
At the end of the first weekend of sales of the new CHAPPY FERRY BOOK, ferry co-owner Peter Wells gives a copy to Lynn Murphy, visiting Chappy from Chilmark. Lynn, a storied Vineyard boatman and craftsman, played a critical role during the challenging weeks when JAWS was shooting on the waters around Martha’s Vineyard — a period in which the ferry itself played important roles both on camera and off. Photo by ferry captain Jeff LaMarche. Read More
Questions I really need the answers to
I came across a Reader’s Digest site the other day that promised answers to the 25 toughest questions in life. I started thinking about that and realized I had at least seven toughest questions to life on Martha’s Vineyard. See if I get the answers (and questions) right: 1. Why do they start tearing up streets in Oak Bluffs two weeks before Memorial Day? Well, truthfully, I have no idea. Probably for the same reason they built a $5 million “temporary”... Read More
The Chappy Ferry: An Unknown Vineyard Story
I do a lot of thinking about the kind of books Vineyard Stories should do. My mission has since the beginning of the company seven years ago been to tell the story of the Vineyard, both past and present – stories I think would disappear without recording them now. Along the way, of course, I’ve done books that are more fun than history – books like the cookbook Morning Glory Farm and the Family that Feeds an Island or the magnificently illustrated... Read More
What the island knows, and when it knows it
The island drum beat is an amazing one. I recently crashed my car into a deer, and people who don’t have any reason to know it were aware I drove a Prius. “We parked next to each other once on the boat,” one person told me. I visited a piece of land on Chappy with Edo Potter, friend and author, and in about a half hour tour, she was able to tell me who never answered their mail or email and who had some high and interesting hopes about using... Read More
When you lose something you love
My friend Jon Katz lost his dog Rose over the weekend. Rose became ill in the night, and after a day of acceptance, Katz (I’ve called him by his last name for the 30 years I’ve known him) and his wife Maria held her while the vet euthanized her. Katz credits Rose with many things in the books he’s written about his dogs and his life on Bedlam Farm, including his latest one, Going Home: Finding Peace when Pets Die. Rose was a superb working... Read More
Ridiculous fun
Our work on the Chappy Ferry book — which we have now named, but I’m not yet revealing — has reached a stage where cover images are being shot, a film for a DVD insert is being edited, and writer Tom Dunlop is beginning to think about an ending time. This is all hard work. But, last weekend, we put the work aside for a moment to just have some fun. Owners Peter Wells and Sally Snipes, while floating around the harbor on the ferry... Read More
The gift of genuine goodness
Most of you are thinking today of the devastation to our country from 10 years ago. I feel that, of course, but my sorrow for my own 9/11 comes from three years ago, the day my husband, John Walter, the co-founder of Vineyard Stories, died. I have always thought it ironic that John, a dedicated newsman from the time he was about 5, should have died on this most infamous of days. Like all Americans, we watched in horror as the events in 2001 unfolded... Read More
In honor of hurricanes
Hurricane Irene took it easy on most of Martha’s Vineyard but did severe damage to some of the beaches, including Chappaquiddick where 22 feet of south-facing Wasque Reservation fell into the ocean in a 24-hour period. This reminded me of this chapter from Edo Potter’s The Last Farm on Chappaquiddick that deals with the Hurricane of 1938, one of the worst to ever hit the East Coast. Edo was 11 years old and was in a horse drawn... Read More
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