Tag Archives: community
Gossip
Gossip is widely assumed to be, by definition, frivolous, erroneous, and/or malicious. Call it “orally transmitted information” and it gets more respect. My first few years on Martha’s Vineyard I didn’t believe people who said they rarely read the local … Continue reading
Tolerant, Up to a Point
At the end of April, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center held its first Spectrum Film Festival, featuring films with an L, G, B, T, and/or Q connection. Like the LGBTQ coalition itself, the films had an uneasy relationship with each … Continue reading
Into the Mud
The title of my first novel, The Mud of the Place, came from its epigraph, a quote from a 1994 interview with the late poet-writer-activist Grace Paley: “If your feet aren’t in the mud of a place, you’d better watch where your … Continue reading
Small Town Nuts & Bolts
One of the few good things to come out of last November’s presidential election results is a renewed interest in how government works, or is supposed to work, and how we can go about influencing it most effectively. So Saturday … Continue reading
Messiah
I sang in a performance of Handel’s Messiah on Saturday night. “An Island Family Tradition Returns” said the poster, and so it was. I’m not a trained singer but I can carry a tune, I like to sing, and if I … Continue reading
We Stand Together
Word spread quickly, via social media, word of mouth, and flyers in the usual places, that Vineyarders would rally at Waban Park, Oak Bluffs, at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, November 19. That was yesterday. Of course I went, knowing almost nothing … Continue reading
Primary 2016: Fernandes, DeOliveira, Rivers, ??
State elections are usually held on Tuesday, but this year’s Massachusetts primary is tomorrow, and that’s a Thursday. Some years primary elections are pretty ho-hum affairs. Not this year. This year no fewer than four incumbents are retiring or otherwise … Continue reading
Prayer Vigil
Sometimes I get sucked into the not-uncommon belief that whatever unfolds on Martha’s Vineyard is not real life. I don’t lock my home either when I’m in it or when I’m out. My car keys are always in the ignition … Continue reading
MVFF Deal Closes, More Dealing Ensues
As June 22 approached, the date set for the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) to close on the Walsh property off Old County Road, the rumors flew. Opposition to MVFF’s plan to build a “campus” or “home” on the 12.5-acre … Continue reading
Now Filming in West Tisbury
Seen from a distance, Martha’s Vineyard looks bucolic, homogeneous, and maybe even a little boring. Up close it’s much more interesting. The best way to understand what the place is about, how it works and how it doesn’t, is to … Continue reading
