Wonasquam Village and the Skywatchers
So, this was "Wonasquam"! I was standing at the corner of Wheeler St. and Apple St. on Gloucester's Riverview Peninsula, gazing at a rock-ringed pocket park called Brown's Field. …
Privateersman Jonathan Haraden
Greek philosopher Heraclitus’s maxim “character is destiny” applies to this most famous and intrepid Yankee privateer Captain in America’s War for Independence, and to his …
Wharves and Vessels on Canvas and Paper
My father’s rigging loft in the 1940s and 1950s was right at the foot of Sherman Ruth’s wharf, where the Americold freezer plant is today. He had learned his trade on Swedish sailing ships …
Full of Satiable Curtiosity*
The Cape Ann Museum, which plays such a prominent role in the cultural heart of Cape Ann today, has a history which reaches back into the 19th century when few museums existed. …
Dear Papa …
In September, the Dry Salvages Festival celebrated T. S. Eliot's early years summering in Gloucester, and their influence on his body of poetry. Included in the program was a collection of …
My Father was Born in 1893
My dad, Ed Niles, was born in Cambridge, Mass. His father was alcoholic and had left the family. But my father had a marvelous Uncle Jim who took him sailing out of Gloucester on his …
Cape Ann’s Electrifying Sea Creatures
Ever visited the shores of Cape Ann and noticed people lugging around boatloads of air tanks (they’re not oxygen tanks), lead weight-belts, and tangles of gauges, computers, …
Charles Olson, Maximus of Gloucester
Charles Olson left a large footprint in Gloucester, with his stature of 6’8” far exceeded by the size of his poetic voice which arose from this city. Olson’s life, from the earliest to the …
From Beauport to Fenway Court
If one walks along any of the narrow boulevards which girdle downtown Gloucester, all manner of historical markers and architectural embellishments announce the glory of the …
Paul Manship's Starfield
Since the late 19th century, it was a tradition of established, successful New York sculptors and their allied artist friends to escape from the heat of the city and head north to the …
Gloucester and the Arts
A few years back, I lived downtown on Prospect Street. Life had come full circle. The scene that enchanted me as a teen, when I had a poster of Edward Hopper’s Sun on Prospect Street …
Jeff Weaver: Witness to Gloucester
It is Saturday afternoon at 16 Rogers Street, where Jeff Weaver holds court from a corner in his gallery. People drift in and out of the space, a mix of old friends and passersby, with Jeff …
On Rocky Neck
I met with artist Ruth Mordecai on December 13, 2022, at her home and studio on Rocky Neck. This oceanside community located in Gloucester, MA, is one of the oldest …
Gloucester After Dark
In the early years of the 21st century, my camera and I roamed through Gloucester harbor at night, taking color photographs illuminated by the lights on the ships, docks and …