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Great Cranberry Island Historical Society
Publications

- 2006 -


cover

Boatdog Bess, My Story
by Kay Gibson

A charming photo-storybook, in her own words, of how boat dog Bess came to be the very best boat dog in the world.
to order

- 2005 -


cover

Artists of the Cranberry Isles, Past and Present
by Wini Smart

With a foreward by Carl Little and an introduction by Wini Smart, this booklet features single-page biographies and sample works of 21 past and 21 current Cranberry Isles artists, plus two photogrphers.

The booklet was issued in conjunction with the Art of the Cranberry Isles show held July 28, 2005 in the Neighborhood House of Northeast Harbor, Maine.
see more     to order

- 2004 -


cover

Winter: The Other Season
by Wini Smart & Bruce Komusin

A narrative woven around the old-time activities on Great Cranberry Island in winter time, enlivened with old photos, and personal memories from many year-round residents.
to order


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Hitty Preble of The Cranberry Isles
by Wini Smart & Bruce Komusin

A flat wooden doll, plus a storybook telling how Rachel Field's award-winning book, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years was written, and how it describes people and places here on Great Cranberry Island.
see more     to order

- 2003 -


sample poem
The Back Shore

Surf, Stone, & Spruce
by Ted Harlan

Poetry and photos of Great Cranberry Island.  Each of Ted's personal poems is enhanced with an appropriate photograph by George Harlan, his father.
to order

- 2002 -


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Cranberry Road
by Wini Smart

Taking her cue from Rachel Field's famous poem, Wini has woven a marvelous text with plenty of old photos, giving a appreciation what went on and how the island looked when Rachel was here.
to order


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A Taste of Cranberry
by Susan Donald Michalski

Poetry and lino-cuts by Susan Donald Michalski, a regular summer visitor to Great Cranberry Island.
to order

- 2001 -

gull
© Copyright 2001 Susan Michalski

Watercolor sketch
by Susan Michalski

Great Cranberry Island, Maine
An Artist's Sketchbook, 1998
by Susan Donald Michalski

Susan Donald Michalski has been visiting the island for years, keeping a sketch diary with charming watercolor vignettes of island life, buildings, and scenes.  She has given us permission to publish a collection of these sketches.  Bruce Komusin diligently worked as editor and publisher.  The Historical Society purchased a wire binding machine, allowing us to present a very professional product.  This 20-page booklet, completely in color, will make a nice souvenir of the island.  It will be available this summer at the Whales Rib Gift Shop, or at the Museum, with a discount for Historical Society members.
see more     to order

Riding With Tud
March 18, 1993
by Jeff Weisbruch

Driving the length of the island, Tud remembers the old families who lived in each home, in his own amiable style.  This is completely different from the 1992 interview.
(43 pgs, 7 photos, 2 original cartoons)
to order

girls at dock
© Copyright 2001 Wini Smart

Felt tip pen sketch
by Wini Smart

If it Were Yesterday...
A Historic Coloring Book
of Great Cranberry Island
by Wini Smart

A new Island classic is born!  Wini Smart's charming narrated coloring book celebrates the simple joys of a child's vacation on Great Cranberry Island, both in the early 1900s and today.  If it were yesterday, we'd arrive on the J.T. Morse, meet old pals at the dock, spend a day out cod fishing, hike to see the wild birds and the shipwreck, and talk with Passamaquoddy John Snow about how, in olden days, his people lived on the island.
see more     to order

- 2000 -

gull

The Heraldry of Great Cranberry Island
Working Lobstermen's Colors
Summer 2000

A single-sheet 8.5" x 11" poster of lobster buoy markings for the summer of 2000.
to order

- 1999 -

God's Pocket
by Rachel Field

Many believe Rachel Field's God's Pocket, first published in 1934, was her greatest downeast book.  It chronicles the fascinating life of Captain Samuel Hadlock, Jr. (1792-1830) of Cranberry Isles -- a showman forerunner of Buffalo Bill Cody and P.T. Barnum -- and a Great Cranberry Island favorite son.
see more   to order

gull
courtesy of Susan W. Smith

Salvaging Cargo from the Wreck
of the Emily F. Northam
by Farnham W. Smith

The three-masted cargo schooner Emily F. Northam grounded on Baker Island Reef, southeast of Islesford, in the midst of a Nor'easter on Thursday, December 2, 1926.  Another storm shortly afterwards shifted her into the Cow Yard, off Great Cranberry Island.  Even now you can still see her ribs sticking up at low water.

This publication, by Farnham W. Smith, the man who supervised the cargo salvage, was first published in Downeast magazine in March of 1974.  It tells the full story of the events of that long-ago winter.
(10 pgs, 8 photos)
to order

gull

An Interview with Ralph Stanley
Jan 15, 1994
by Jeff Weisbruch

Ralph is a wooden boat builder and National Heritage Foundation "National Treasure."
(18 pgs, 1 photo)
to order

- 1998 -

girls at dock

The Fairies
by William Allingham

William Allingham (1824 - 1889) wrote this poem, which was a favorite of Barbara Brooks (b. 1912.)  As a little girl, she repeated it to herself as she wandered down through the hills and deep cool woods leading to Preble Cove.  (a single-sheet, 8.5" x 11" poster)
to order

- 1997 -

girls at dock
cover

The Asa D. Stanley House
Built ca. 1857 - 1863
by Bruce Komusin

Asa D. Stanley and his wife Ellen Maria built this house.  Their daughter Addie (Stanley) Duren lived in it after them.  Omer and Annette Mountain currently own it.

This report has photos of the original owners and their daughter, and touches on the fire that destroyed one wing.
(8 pgs, 7 photos)
to order

- 1996 -

The Construction of Road "I-95"
on Great Cranberry Island, Maine
by Doris "Dot" McSorley

This report explains how and why the road known by the locals as "I-95" came to be built.  It is written by the original owner of the land.
(9 pgs, 7 photos, 1 map)
to order

- 1994 -

An Interview with Tud Bunker
Oct. 12, 1992
by Patti D'Angelo

Tud was a well-liked storyteller and lifetime resident of Great Cranberry Island.  (20 pgs, 3 photos)
to order


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