Author: Taryn McBryde

Fighting the Battle
Nantucket Essays

Fighting the Battle

Take a look at the young lady in blue pictured holding the striped bass. I saved this picture in my favorites album because I truly believe it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken. Everything about it is perfect: blue bucket hat, blue tie dyed shirt, blue sky in the background, and the windswept beach of Coatue arcing behind her. Her bemused expression—is she really happy that she caught this fish? Is she trying to find her place in this family or maybe even this world? There’s so much going on here! Even though I’m mad at myself still for not remembering this young lady’s name, I consider her picture to be on par with the Mona Lisa.

Nantucket Comedy Festival logo
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

We Could All Use a Lot More Laughter

The annual Nantucket Comedy Festival, which brings top comedic talent to Nantucket Island opens Thursday, July 11 at 7 pm with Ladies of Laughter, featuring nationally headlining female comedians, including Marina Franklin, Casey Balsham, Emma Willmann, and Jessica Casciano. This event is for both ladies and gentlemen, so make it […]

white tail deer
Island Science

Missing Mammals

A theme of many of my articles is how special and unique Nantucket’s flora and fauna are. Often I highlight rare species that call the island home: endangered plants, rare butterflies, insects, threatened birds… life on-island that makes Nantucket’s ecology unique. Today, however, I am going to discuss the absence of a group of species which gives the island species character: mammals.

Women + Wellness Logo
Nantucket Events

Women+Wellness to Empower Women

by Suzanne Daub In 2017 a trio of dynamic women on Nantucket—Meryl Bralower, Melanie Sablehaus, and Jeanine Borthwick—engaged with Nantucket Cottage Hospital to spearhead an effort to empower women on the island, visitors and residents, to take charge of their healthcare. “Did you know that 80% of all healthcare decisions […]

An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

America: a Promise, a Hope, & a Dream

America can be hard to see.

Oh, we can see the flags. On the Fourth of July, we have the red, white, and blue on every bicycle, tricycle, and baby carriage. The bunting hangs off of buildings and wharves. We celebrate the country in a rollicking, rolling carnival of hot dogs, ice cream, and beer. Somebody will host a firecracker fun run, somebody else will win a pie-eating contest, and then, in the evening, fireworks will guide us through the night with the light from above.

Nantucket Events

Beautiful Blooms to Help Our Community

Tonight, Thursday, June 27, the 24th annual Blooming Bids event offers an evening of fun and fundraising, live music, small bites, refreshing libations, and enticing silent auction items, all to benefit Nantucket’s Behavioral Health Center. Tickets to the evening festivities are available at fairwindscenter.org and also at the door. All […]

The Met Opera’s Moby-Dick
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

“A Vengeful Obsession” Live, from The Met

Aptly described in newyorkcitytheatre.com as “a vengeful obsession” that “becomes a deadly pursuit…across the thrashing sea,” Nantucket audiences will be treated to a preview highlight sampling of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025 production of Moby-Dick on Tuesday, July 30, co-hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association and Nantucket Dreamland. This one-night-only prelude […]

Nantucket Arts, What's New on Nantucket

New Vocal Group for Island Youth

Nantucket Community Music Center staff believes that “music has the power to transform individuals and our island as a whole,” and in furtherance of that mission, they offering a new free summer enrichment program for young singers. Nantucket Youth Sings! offers an enriching experience for young singers with choral rehearsals […]

An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

Biking through the Mists of Memory

I follow a boy to the beach. He pedals a brown 12-speed Univega with red panniers hanging off the rear rack, as if he were pedaling across the country and needed to bring everything he would ever need. The boy is bent over the racing handlebars, with his hands resting on the lower handles and his butt raised by a fraction of an inch off the seat. He wears a Campagnolo bicycling cap, although his bike has no rat traps for his feet nor is he wearing a helmet.