Tag Archives: Martha’s Vineyard Times
Je ne suis pas Charlie
Three gunmen attacked the editorial offices of the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday. When they left, 12 were dead and 11 injured. In the days since, at least five more have died: four hostages and a police officer. Two of … Continue reading
Islanders Write? Not Quite
In the summer we denizens of the Seasonally Occupied Territories are regularly bombarded with events that have “Martha’s Vineyard” in their names. Their main connection to the year-round Vineyard is that they’re held on the same terra firma. Summer residents … Continue reading
Stunned
I got the news via Facebook early last evening. There in my news feed was the genial, instantly recognizable face of Pat Gregory moderating a West Tisbury town meeting, and next to it the ungraspable Martha’s Vineyard Times headline: “Pat Gregory murdered … Continue reading
Betty Ann Bryant (1938–1994)
It’s not true that you can find everything on the internet. Not long ago I went looking for Betty Ann Bryant. Betty Ann was one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. I dedicated my novel, The Mud of … Continue reading
On (the?) Island
A Facebook conversation the other day zeroed in on the phrase “on-island.” Are those who use it — as opposed to, say, “here” or “on the island” — giving themselves away as recent arrivals? Are they perhaps a little insecure … Continue reading
Pen Not for Hire
I write to make sense of the world. I generally don’t write for money. If someone wants to pay me for what I’ve written, hey, fine, no problem, but I don’t write for hire. There are a couple of reasons … Continue reading
That Capital “I”
When I first went to work at the Martha’s Vineyard Times, around 1988, I quickly learned to capitalize the I in “island” when it referred to Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s Vineyard was “the Island.” Nantucket, Naushon, or Manhattan were just “the … Continue reading
Reality
I still can’t wrap my head around the phrase “reality TV,” or the culture that came up with it, or the way it rolls trippingly off our tongues as if it makes sense. What will scholars from a different space-time … Continue reading
More Foolishness
Exactly 20 years ago today, April 1 fell on a Thursday. Then, as now, Thursday was publication day for the Martha’s Vineyard Times. I was the Times Calendar editor. The synchronicity was too much to resist. In the following years, … Continue reading
Incumbency Helps
For the last week all the pundits and politicos have been tripping over themselves to analyze the election results. I’m itching to analyze something, but enough is enough, right? However, no one has attempted to analyze the results of the … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 