Books, boats, history and the itch to write about those things
Coming in the fall of 2027, my book about two young Cotuit whaling captains, who married each other s sister, then sailed separately 20,000 miles to the coast of Russia where one was wrecked and survived a winter in Siberia at a Russian prison camp before being rescued the following spring by the other man. I m Continue reading "The Lost Whalers: Shipwreck and Survival on Siberia s Sea of Okhotsk"
I first met Om Prakesh Malik in 1995 in New York City when I started Forbes.com in a borrowed office at the magazine’s headquarters on lower Fifth Avenue. It was the very early days of Internet publishing, and I struggled to find writers who could realize my vision for the project as something more than Continue reading "Farewell O.P. Om Malik, 1966-2026"
from the June, 2026 newsletter of the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit Cotuit was the epicenter of American psychiatry in late 19th and early 20th centuries when it was the summer home of several eminent psychiatrists and psychologists; pioneers who were instrumental in the modern treatment of mental diseases and the development of important theories on Continue reading "Crazy for Cotuit"
Chris Cunningham, an editor at WoodenBoat Magazine, asked me to submit some photos of my Cotuit Skiff, the Snafu II, for the magazine s Launchings/Re-Launchings section. Here it is thanks to Dan Delvecchio and my brother Henry.
Every afternoon the dog appears beside my desk and starts nudging my thigh with his snout. His daily walk along the shore is all that matters to him. It makes all the difference between a dismal and a joyous dog day. Deny him and he mopes around all evening, casting hurt looks from beneath the Continue reading "The Footbridge at Little River"
Yesterday a friend with good taste in boats asked me if my Tashmoo 18 skiff was for sale. I can understand why he might think so, as it s been sitting in the middle of the yard for two weeks awaiting a warm day for me to crawl beneath the trailer and slap on some bottom Continue reading "Tashmoo Skiffs are Back"
The artist Bethany Collins was the subject of a recent (2026.03.04) story in the New York Times about her four-month transcription of Moby Dick with a nib pen on onionskin paper. As an occasional transcriber of whaling ship logbooks, and having digitized The Reminiscences of Captain Thomas Chatfield twenty years ago, I can relate to Continue reading "Tracing through transcription"
Beginning this spring, most operators of a motor boat in Massachusetts must pass a boating safety class and have in their possession a certificate/license. The law, known as the Hanson-Milone Act, was signed into law by Governor Healy on January 8, 2025 and goes into effect for boaters born after January 1, 1989 on April Continue reading "The new Massachusetts boating license: Show Me Your Papers"
Just in time for Valentine s Day, the Sunday New York Times (2026.02.08) published proof that A.I. has finally found its true calling: Ms. Rompoti began writing romance novels with the help of artificial intelligence in 2024, using the program Sudowrite. As a plus-size woman, Ms. Rompoti wanted to see heavier-set heroines she could relate to Continue reading "Romantic Slop"
I wanted to put a plug in for Cindy Nickerson s Curator s Corner in the monthly newsletter of the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit. The latest edition, dated February 1, 2026, has a wonderful essay: Death and Danger at Deep Hole which explores the history of shipwrecks off of Cotuit in the 19th century. In Continue reading "My favorite newsletter: The Historical Society of Santuit and…