Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock

Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock
Author: Margo Solod
Publisher: One Wet Shoe Media
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2011
Genre: Boardinghouses
ISBN: 0615485391

Margo Solod's Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock contains a suite of galvanizing stories from her 15 years as staffer, innkeeper and cook of the Allen House, Cuttyhunk's finest (and only) inn. This book is essentially a love story, the kind that, like the best love, comes complete with recipes. The kind of love story that encompasses a barefoot Jackie Kennedy; Gertrude, a bloody 378-lb swordfish kept on ice in a bathtub; Jesse-the-dog and Tom-the-cat-not-to-be-trifled-with; and any number of ways to cook a lobster. Vivid, colorful, and touching, this memoir is well worth the reading and cooking time.

Cuttyhunk and the Elizabeth Islands

Cuttyhunk and the Elizabeth Islands
Author: Cuttyhunk Historical Society
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738509808

Five of the Elizabeth Islands-Naushon, Pasque, Nashawena, Cuttyhunk, and Penikese-date from 1602, when the Englishman Bartholomew Gosnold explored the waters of Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay aboard his ship the Concord. Although the small encampment Gosnold built on Cuttyhunk for trading with the Wampanoags was used for only a few weeks, journals kept by two crew members have survived and give vivid accounts of that voyage. Naushon, Pasque, and Nashawena are currently privately owned. Penikese, once a leper colony, is now the site of a school for troubled boys. Cuttyhunk is now the only island with a village center and easy public access. Captivating photographs and postcards in Cuttyhunk and the Elizabeth Islands trace the special experience of island life from the unspoiled habitat of Gosnold's time to the first invasion of summer folk in the 1950s. These vintage images not only show how the islands' rock-strewn landscapes reflect the hard lives of the early islanders but also attest to the pleasures of picnics and boating as tourism and summer residents brought a modest degree of prosperity. Many previously unpublished photographs of large estates on Naushon portray a life of privilege. Views of Penikese depict the barren dormitories of the lepers who lived out their lives there.

Working Stiffs

Working Stiffs
Author: George Dila
Publisher: One Wet Shoe Media
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2014-05-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0989607135

The stories in Working Stiffs are crafted with crisp language and buoyant dark humor that beautifully reveal unique and intense situations. George Dila shows us what it s like out there, making our way, every day, against power-tripping bosses, dehumanizing military duties, the inexorable advance of old age. All of the characters in George Dila's stories compel us to believe and invest in their lives; although they may be at the mercy of uncompromising bosses and impossible situations, they still stand up and wage their own battles. These working stiffs grunt and sing, dodge and kill, betray and grant mercy. The impact of Dila's work is undeniable, and we re left imprinted by the generous raw emotion in every scene.

Everyday Heroes

Everyday Heroes
Author: Seamond Ponsart Roberts
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2013-04-18
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781482006506

"I am, and always will be, a lighthouse keeper's daughter. I had the good fortune to be born to a different kind of childhood. I didn't recognize this fact back when I was small. I thought that everybody lived like we did on our little island of Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts, which in itself was a life apart..."This is the true story of a family's life at lighthouses on the edge of civilization. It's a story of adventure, devotion to duty, and love.Seamond Ponsart Roberts shares her memories and emotions with good humor, a sharp eye for detail, and above all an appreciation for a way of life that has passed into history.Illustrated with 30 B&W photos and maps."If you enjoy reading as much as I do, you will understand what it means to have a book 'grab you' right from its opening pages. This book captured me before I'd even finished the acknowledgements with the author's simple way of writing and her invitation to share her adventures as if 'we are old friends sitting on the porch telling each other stories.' A pleasant conversation with a treasured friend is exactly what reading this book is like. . . . 'Everyday Heroes' is a wonderful book rich with history and the everyday trials and tribulations of life as lightkeepers. It left this reader feeling nostalgic for a way of life I've never experienced –a life both rich and somehow uncomplicated by the hardships faced by those who lived it. The author's words will enthrall you and by the time you reach the end of the book, you will have a new appreciation for a lost way of life. But just as importantly, you will feel you have a new friend in Seamond Ponsart Roberts." -- Donna Suchomelly, World Lighthouse Society newsletter.