News and Events for Nantucket Island
Nantucket’s famous sea monster visits our island again this week when the Nantucket Historical Association celebrates its “Summer of Sarg” on Monday, August 5 with a free Community Day from 10 am to 3 pm. The re-creation of Tony Sarg’s 75-foot sea monster balloon will be on display for all […]
Nantucket teacher, entrepreneur, and long-time resident Leah Bayer has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award. This esteemed accolade recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and selflessness in making Nantucket a better place through their unwavering commitment to the community. Leah Bayer will […]
by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish It’s August 20, 2023, and the inaugural August Blues tournament is in high gear. I’m feeling pretty good as I have my morning coffee and check the leaderboard. There I am, sitting on top of the hill for the Gator Blue category (the longest bluefish), thanks […]
Every June, the Nantucket Book Festival brings together readers and authors in a celebration of the written word. Over the years, this weekend event has welcomed to our island hundreds of well-known authors including Alice Hoffman, Dennis Lehane, Tiya Miles, Marlon James, Jodi Picoult, Sebastian Junger, Imani Perry, Hernan Diaz, Jennifer Weiner, Charles Graeber, Isabel Wilkerson, James McBride, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, and Azar Nafisi. The Book Fest also showcases Nantucket writers: Nathaniel Philbrick, Elin Hilderbrand, James Sulzer, Nancy Thayer, Steve Sheppard, and Gabrielle Burnham have made appearances. Kwame Alexander, Margaret Atwood, Erik Larson are among the more than 20 authors who will speak at the 2024 Festival held this Thursday through Sunday.
It was Nantucket whaling ships that brought artist G.S. Hill and his life and business partner Judi to our island nearly half a century ago. And this season, in his studio gallery on Straight Wharf, Greg is showing a special retrospective exhibit of these early works. G.S. Hill’s paintings brought […]
Not every type of fishing involves rods and reels. Nantucket has an abundance of quahogs, hard shell clams that live in the shallow sandy areas around the island. When I was in my early teens, it seems that once or twice each summer I’d end up on a trip with Oscar Bunting, a commercial fisherman, to go with him and scratch up those tasty morsels. Oscar looked like he was from central casting’s selection for “The Old Man and the Sea.” He was a very strong guy with forearms that rivaled Popeye’s, a real-life Cap’n Quint. Oscar had a steely look in his eyes that told you he was a serious man but he softened that look with a frequent and wonderful deep laugh. I loved those quahog digging trips with him!
In August of 1937, Nantucket Island was abuzz: a sea monster was swimming in our waters and walking along our shores, leaving huge three-toed prints in the sand. News wires went out, and articles were published across the country speculating about the strange beast. Island fisherman Bill Manville claimed to […]
Mid April on Nantucket will fluctuate from a spectacular sunny t-shirt only day to one that requires a hooded neoprene jacket just to get to the mailbox. The wind howls, the boats are cancelled, and the rain pounds down in a sideways manner, just to remind you to stay inside. Which is what reasonable Nantucket people will do, of course. But fishermen are not necessarily reasonable people. And this is how I found myself standing in waders in the North Head of the Hummock, hands numb, eyes watering, trying to cast an ultralight pond rig into a 30 knot wind.
Spring cleaning on Nantucket doesn’t just refer to sweeping away dust and cobwebs that have accumulated throughout the house during the winter months. It also includes several cooperative efforts to tidy-up our island roadsides, beaches, nature preserves, and town.
The cross-examination was withering: question after question, each one seemingly a tripwire cleverly placed to snare my plodding steps. The law yer pressed me relentlessly, stepping up his attack by the slightest degree, sensing that I was a moment away from falling apart. And he was right—my confidence was waning, and I was f loundering. I couldn’t play his game any longer. I reverted to what I did best, what had gotten me this far, what has always been the key to my survival I counterpunched.
