Matthew Cohen is a nautical photographer with more than 20 years of experience. Matthew acquired his love of boating as a child and raced with the successful Roger Williams University Varsity Team. Following that, he became an accomplished sailing instructor for 15 years at the Sail Newport Sailing Center, and he’s logged over 30,000 ocean miles as a sailor.

Sakonnet Lighthouse, RI. Photo by Matthew Cohen. Matthew Cohen

Matthew’s work has been printed in more than 30 maritime publications and has been showcased in over a dozen galleries, shows, and retail spaces. He’s now in the early stages of a new photography project related to lighthouses, which is described in this interview.

This episode is also available in a special video edition – see https://youtu.be/iklkA8JvSsk?feature=shared

This edition of Light Hearted Lite features several edited interviews that were originally heard in two episodes back in the spring of 2020. The subject is the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s popular lighthouse passport program. The program provides enthusiasts the opportunity to help preserve lighthouses, and a great way for them to keep a pictorial history of their lighthouse adventures. Small donations are made by passport holders for the stamps.

The interviews are with Skip Sherwood, director of the passport program, and several hall of fame stamp collectors: John MacFarland, James Hill, Sharon Mills, Al King, and Scott Walbert.

Click here for more information on the passport program.

James Hill Al King Sharon Mills Scott and Diane Walbert John MacFarland Mary Lee and Skip Sherwood

Barcelona Light Station, photo by Mike and Carol McKinney

In 1828, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie in New York. The harbor had just been designated an official port of entry when the lighthouse was built. In the early 1800s, lumber, salt, flour, and fish were shipped to and from the port. The lighthouse is a conical stone tower, 40 feet tall. It’s believed to be the very first natural gas-powered lighthouse in the world.

Barcelona Lighthouse is undergoing a major restoration (New York State Parks) Marla Bingham-Melcher

The light was discontinued as an aid to navigation in 1859, and the property was transferred to New York State Parks in 2007. There’s a museum in the keeper’s house, and currently there’s a major project in progress that includes the rehabilitation of the lighthouse tower. Our guest is Marla Bingham-Melcher, the manager of the five state parks in Chautauqua County, including Barcelona Lighthouse. This episode is co-hosted by Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, executive director of Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania.

Seal Point Lighthouse is on Cape St. Francis in South Africa, close to the southeasternmost point on the continent. At 91 feet tall, it’s the tallest masonry building on the South African coast.

Seal Point Light Station (courtesy of Seal Point Lighthouse)

Construction began in 1874, and materials had to be hauled by oxcart to the remote location. The light station began service on July 4, 1878. For many years, Seal Point was considered one of the most isolated staffed light stations on the country’s mainland.

Paul Duval Wesley Randles

Seal Point Lighthouse has been developed into a major attraction in recent years, with a boutique hotel, a restaurant, and more. There’s also a studio called Salt, with yoga, Pilates, fitness, and dance instruction.

Visitors can also climb the 154 steps inside the lighthouse tower for a spectacular look at the Cape St. Francis seascape.

Courtesy of Seal Point Lighthouse

Paul Duval is the CEO of Petrel Ventures, the company that has developed the light station site. Wesley Randles is the chef and manager of the Nevermind restaurant at the light station.

The waterfront of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is home to one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions: Titanic Belfast, also known as the Titanic Museum. The museum opened in 2012 and attracted more than six million people in its first seven years of operation. In 2018, two important new attractions – the Great Light and Titanic Walkway – officially opened to the public near the museum. The so-called Great Light is the world’s first and largest hyper-radial Fresnel lens — the largest and most powerful lighthouse lenses ever made. It was originally installed in Tory Island Lighthouse in 1887, and it went through some unusual changes over the years.

The Great Light, photo by Albert Bridge. Titanic Quarter, Belfast  CC BY-SA 2.0 Sally Montgomery

Dr. Sally Montgomery has been a science educator for more than 40 years. She is currently a board member of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, a board member of the Titanic Foundation, and a former trustee of the Maritime Belfast Trust. Sally has done much in-depth research on the history of the Great Light.

Focus 244 Gallery, York, Maine

Focus 244 is a new photography gallery in York, Maine. This month the gallery is hosting a lighthouse festival, featuring an artists’ reception on July 22, kids’ activities on July 23, and also an evening presentation by “Light Hearted” host Jeremy D’Entremont on July 23. Shannon Culpepper is the curator of the Focus 244 gallery.

Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has the distinction of being New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse and the nation’s third tallest masonry lighthouse at 171 feet. The tower was designed by George Meade, who later commanded the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. The light went into service in early 1857.

Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey, at sunrise. Courtesy of Absecon Lighthouse. Buddy Grover and Jean Muchanic Buddy Grover

After three quarters of a century as a family station with a principal keeper and two assistants, the light was deactivated in 1933. There was talk of demolishing the lighthouse, but it was saved when Atlantic City took control of it in 1946. The Inlet Public/Private Association was created in the 1990s to rebuild the principal keeper’s dwelling, which had been demolished, and to restore the lighthouse and lens.

Jean Muchanic has been the executive director of Absecon Lighthouse for nearly 20 years. And Buddy Grover has been a lighthouse volunteer for more than 10 years. At the age of 95, he greets visitors in a keeper’s uniform and answers their questions.

The first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest was established in 1856 on the north side of the entrance to the Columbia River at Cape Disappointment, in the state of Washington. High land blocked the view of the light from the north, so Congress appropriated funds for a second lighthouse at North Head, just two miles north of Cape Disappointment. North Head Lighthouse, a 65-foot-tall brick tower with a sandstone base, began service in 1898 with its light 194 feet above the water.

North Head Lighthouse, courtesy of Washington State Parks

In 2012, Washington State Parks took ownership of North Head Light Station, which is within Cape Disappointment State Park. The lighthouse has undergone a major restoration in recent years.

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center stands high on the cliffs of the state park, and on display in the center is a first-order Fresnel lens that served in both of the local lighthouses at different times.

The first-order Fresnel lens on display in the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Stephen Wood is an exhibit project specialist, and Alex McMurry is a historic preservation planner for Washington State Parks.

The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, or NHLPA, was created to aid the preservation of federally owned historic light stations. The NHLPA program is a partnership that includes the Coast Guard, the National Park Service, and the General Services Administration, or GSA. The NHLPA allows lighthouse properties to be transferred at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit corporations, or educational and community development organizations.

Sonia Allon-Singh Anthony Barbati Kevin Legare

Kevin Legare, Sonia Allon-Singh and Anthony Barbati are realty specialists for the GSA, working out of the GSA’s New England Region offices in Boston. All three of them are involved with the lighthouse properties that are currently up for transfer.

Joe Rivers

The U.S. Lighthouse Society is holding a National Lighthouse Day Dance Contest this summer, and Joe Rivers has written and performed an original song for the occasion. Click here for more details. Joe is interviewed in this episode about his ideas behind the song.

Erie Land Lighthouse, photo by Brian Berchtold.

There are three lighthouses on the Lake Erie shore within the state of Pennsylvania. The first of the three, Erie Land Lighthouse, was erected to mark the entrance to Presque Isle Bay. It has the distinction of being the earliest commissioned light station on the American side of the Great Lakes. The present 49-foot tower was built in 1867 of Berea sandstone.

Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light, photo by Brian Berchtold. Presque Isle Light Station, photo by Brian Berchtold. Averie Shaghnessy-Comfort

Presque Isle Lighthouse began service in 1873, and Erie Harbor North Pierhead Light has stood since 1940. All three of these lighthouses are now managed by the Presque Isle Light Station, also known as Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the preserving these historic structures, educating the community on their value, and interpreting them for future generations. Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, interviewed in this episode, is the executive director of the Presque Isle Light Station.

The 66-foot tall cast-iron Chicago Harbor Lighthouse began service in 1893 to help guide shipping traffic in and out of the busy harbor. A new organization, Friends of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, has been formed to preserve the historic structure. In this episode the organization’s president, Kurt Lentsch, is interviewed by Ralph Krugler.

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Connie and Elson Small in the 1940s

Constance Scovill Small was born into a Maine family that included sea captains and lighthouse keepers. Connie had dreams of being an artist or writer, but when light keeper Elson Small asked her, “Do you love me enough to go with me on a lighthouse?” she knew she had to say yes. They were soon married.

Connie Small and Jeremy D’Entremont in 2003

Connie and Elson had a 28-year career at light stations including Maine’s Avery Rock, Seguin Island, and St. Croix Island –also known as Dochet’s Island — and New Hampshire’s Portsmouth Harbor.  Portsmouth Harbor Light Station was their first home with electricity, in 1946. 

Some years after Elson’s death in 1960, a woman in a social club said to Connie, “How on earth could anyone have any kind of a life in a lighthouse?”  That started Connie on a mission that led to the publication of her book The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife when she was 85 years old. Connie lived to the age of 103, passing away in 2005.

This interview was recorded at the Mark Wentworth Home in Portsmouth in 1997 by Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont. It’s been edited for this podcast, and some of the questions have been re-recorded for sound quality and continuity.

Connie and Elson Small at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in the 1940s

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Dianne Wolfer’s 2009 book Lighthouse Girl won the West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award for Picture Books. Lighthouse Girl tells the poignant story of Fay Howe, who was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Breaksea Island, near Albany in Western Australia, during World War I. In late 1914 a fleet of 36 troop ships left Albany bound for Egypt and Gallipoli. Fifteen-year-old Fay communicated with many of the men using semaphore flags or Morse code. The sight of Fay Howe waving to them from the island became a symbol of hope for the departing soldiers.

Dianne Wolfer

Dianne Wolfer was interviewed in Light Hearted episode 96 in January 2021. The original interview extended over two episodes. Also interviewed at that time was Fay Howe’s son, Don Watson, along with his wife Peg and their daughter Denise Rafferty. The interviews with Dianne Wolfer and Don Watson have been edited into a new 30-minute segment in this episode.

Also in this episode is a conversation with Mike Vogel, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and Jeff Gales, executive director of the Society. The discussion touches on the core missions of the Society, but is mostly about the domestic and international tours the Society offers each year. For more about the United States Lighthouse Society and its tours, check out uslhs.org.

Mike Vogel (left) and Jeff Gales

Courtesy of Barry Porter

Barry Porter was born into a farming family in Porterville, on the north coast of Newfoundland, Canada. After working as a welder, Barry applied to be a relief lighthouse keeper with the Canadian Coast Guard. He spent the next 23 years working as a lightkeeper in four different locations. He has written about his colorful career in a new book, Adventures of a Lightkeeper.

Barry Porter and his wife Alice at Bacalhao Island Lighthouse. Courtesy of Barry Porter.

Stephanie Collins writes in the Miramichi Reader about Barry’s book: “Adventures of A Lightkeeper by Barry Porter is, quite simply, a romantic recounting of the maritime lifestyle of light keeping on the rugged northeast coastline of Newfoundland. Written with passion and great respect for the solitary life such a profession brings, Porter’s book opens the door to these beautiful beacons of light and provides an exclusive tour of these lonely behemoths and the mystique for which they have become famous.”

This is part 3 of a three part interview.

Barry Porter at Puffin Island Light Station, Newfoundland. Courtesy of Barry Porter.

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Barry Porter

This is the second part in a three-part interview with Barry Porter, whose new book Adventures of a Lightkeeper tells the story of his 23 years (1983 to 2006) with the Canadian Coast Guard as a lighthouse keeper on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Barry started his years as a full-time principal keeper in 1984 at Long Point Light Station on North Twillingate Island. Long Point, with its distinctive red lighthouse tower, is one of the 23 light stations in Newfoundland that are still staffed by resident keepers. It’s also a major tourist attraction.

Painting the lighthouse tower at Bacalhao Island

Barry’s next stop in 1988 was Bacalhao Island Light Station, which takes its name from the Portuguese word for cod. Barry spent four years at Bacalhao Island and then moved on to Surgeon’s Cove Head on Exploits Island. Barry ended up staying at Surgeon’s Cove for 10 years, until it was automated in 2002. In 2003 Barry spent a brief period at Puffin Island Lighthouse, off Greenspond on the northwest side of Bonavista Bay. Then from 2003 to 2006, Barry was back at Long Point.

Photos courtesy of Barry Porter

Long Point Light Station

Barry’s book, Adventures of a Lightkeeper, is available from online booksellers. If you would like to get an autographed copy directly from Barry, you can contact him directly through his Facebook page. This is part 2 of 3 parts. Listen to the podcast using the player below.

Fred Mikkelsen

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 43 in January 2020. Conimicut Lighthouse is a cast-iron caisson structure built in 1883 to mark a dangerous shoal at the mouth of the Providence River. 18-year-old Coast Guardsman Frederick Mikkelsen was assigned to the station in 1958. One of his most memorable experiences in his three years at the lighthouse was a 1960 hurricane.

Shortly after Fred Mikkelsen left, Conimicut became one of the last lighthouses in the nation to be converted to electricity. The light was automated and the resident keepers were reassigned in 1963. The lighthouse is owned today by the City of Warwick, RI, and it has recently been restored.

Conimicut Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

Barry Porter (courtesy of Barry Porter)

Barry Porter worked as a lighthouse keeper on the northeast coast of Newfoundland with the Canadian Coast Guard for twenty-three years, 1983 to 2006. Born in the small farming community of Porterville, Barry has worked in several professions, as a welder, a photographer, a lighthouse keeper, and later as the curator and manager of the By the Bay Museum in Lewisporte. His lighthouse adventures began at Surgeon’s Cove Head Light Station on Exploits Island. He also worked at the historic Long Point Lighthouse on Twillingate Island and Bacalhao Island Lighthouse, on an island near Twillingate.

Surgeons Cove Head Light Station in winter, courtesy of Barry Porter.

Barry’s new book, Adventures of a Lightkeeper, was published in 2022 by Flanker Press. The book describes the isolation, adventure, and beauty of these places, as well as the history of the lighthouses and their keepers. A chapter is devoted to Barry’s efforts to rehabilitate his beloved beagle, Gypsy, after an accident. Barry is an avid outdoorsman and a proud father of two children. He resides in beautiful downtown Porterville, Newfoundland, with his wife, Alice, and his present beagle, Lucy.

Long Point Lighthouse, Twillingate. USLHS photo by Ralph Eshelman.

Barry’s book, Adventures of a Lightkeeper, is available from online booksellers. If you would like to get an autographed copy directly from Barry, you can contact him directly through his Facebook page. This is part 1 of 3 parts. Listen to the podcast using the player below.

St. Helena Island Light Station, Michigan, courtesy of GLLKA Michele and Mark VanderVelde at St. Helena Island. Courtesy of Michele and Mark VanderVelde.

The idea for the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, or GLLKA, was born at a gathering back in 1981 at Grosse Point Lighthouse in Illinois, and in the following year the first informal meeting was held in Michigan. The organization was officially launched in 1983 and it’s going strong 40 years later, remaining dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Great Lakes lighthouses. Since 1986, GLLKA has cared for the St. Helena Island Light Station on Lake Michigan, and volunteers carry out a variety of preservation projects.  GLLKA also cares for the Cheboygan River Front Range Light.

Wayne Sapulski with a miniature version of the Point Iroquois Light Station in Michigan. Courtesy of Wayne Sapulski.

There are three guests in this episode. Wayne Sapulski is a Great Lakes lighthouse historian, author, and photographer, and a tireless volunteer for GLLKA. He’s also the author of two books and many articles on Great Lakes lighthouses. One of Wayne’s claims to fame is that he has physically visited all 360 lighthouses on the Great Lakes, on both the U.S. and Canadian sides.

Mark and Michele VanderVelde have been involved with St. Helena Island Light Station as volunteers for well over 20 years. In 2019, Mark and Michele received the Richard L. Moehl Award for Excellence in Volunteerism for the countless hours they have contributed in support of GLLKA activities. Wayne Sapulski also received the same award that year.

Elliott Bay, on Puget Sound in the state of Washington, extends southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. The city of Seattle was founded on the bay and the city now surrounds it completely. The bay has served as a key element of the local economy, enabling the Port of Seattle to become one of the busiest ports in the United States. The first navigational light at Alki Point was a kerosene lantern hung on the side of a barn in the 1870s by the property owner.

Alki Point Lighthouse, Washington. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

The Lighthouse Board eventually recognized the need for something more substantial, and a lens lantern was installed on a wooden post at the point. In 1913, the present lighthouse building was completed. It consists of a 37-foot-tall octagonal brick tower attached to a fog signal building. Two residences were also constructed for the keepers and their families.

The two keepers’ houses at Alki Point.

The station was automated in 1984, and the principal keeper’s quarters became the home of the commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District. Today, Coast Guard Auxiliarists provide public tours on most Sunday afternoons between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. Debra Alderman serves as the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s project officer for public tours at Alki Point Lighthouse. She has also been instrumental in outreach events for the Auxiliary across South Seattle.

A fourth-order Fresnel lens on display inside the lighthouse.

Information on tours at Alki Point Lighthouse

Facebook page for Alki Point Lighthouse

Email address for information on Alki Point Lighthouse

Point No Point is at the north end of Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula in the small town of Hansville. Construction of a lighthouse at Point No Point began in April 1879. Point No Point is the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound, and it consists of a square 30-foot-tall brick and stucco tower between an attached office and a fog signal building.

Point No Point Lighthouse at sunrise. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

In the late 1990s, the last Coast Guard personnel left Point No Point and the property was leased to Kitsap County Parks and Recreation. The county created the 60-acre Point No Point Park. The U.S. Lighthouse Society relocated its headquarters to the keeper’s house at Point No Point in 2008. One side of the duplex house is the Society’s offices and the other side has overnight accommodations open to the public.

The keepers’ house at Point No Point. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

There are two interviews in this episode, and the first is with three people. Dave Anderson is the president of the Friends of Point No Point Lighthouse. Lori Raymaker is the docent coordinator for the organization, and Shelly Douglas is a past president. The second interview is with Al Bryant , an architect with special expertise in historic preservation projects. Al is on the board of directors of the Friends of Point No Point Lighthouse and he’s overseeing the current plans for a restoration of the lighthouse buildings. USLHS executive director Jeff Gales takes part in both interviews along with host Jeremy D’Entremont.

Sunrise on the beach at Point No Point. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Browns Point Lighthouse, Washington. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

Browns Point is on the east side of the entrance to Commencement Bay, which leads from Puget Sound to the Port of Tacoma. The first navigational aid at Browns Point was a simple post light established in 1887 – two years before Washington became a state. A new square wooden lighthouse began service in 1903, and a fog bell was mounted on the side of the tower. In 1933, the current 38-foot concrete lighthouse tower was built. It’s unusual Art Deco style makes it unique among Washington’s lighthouses.

Jim Harnish and Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont at Browns Point. Photo by Jeff Gales. The keeper’s house at Browns Point. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

A year after its automation in 1963, Browns Point became a public park. In more recent years, the Points Northeast Historical Society has restored the keeper’s house and has opened it for overnight stays. The Society carried out a major restoration of the lighthouse in 2021. Jim Harnish is a board member and past president of the Points Northeast Historical Society. A 2014 newsletter called him “the glue that holds us all together.” U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales takes part in this interview along with host Jeremy D’Entremont.

George Fox and other volunteers in Ukraine George Fox and friends with a sunrise over the Black Sea in Odessa, on Ukrainian Independence Day (August 24)

This episode features one of our occasional “Be a Lighthouse” segments, which focus on people doing good in the world. George Fox, who lives in Bethel, Maine, recently spent several months in Ukraine, helping war refugees escape the country to Poland. During his time in Ukraine, Fox transported people west out of Ukraine and brought supplies east. After three separate stays in Ukraine, George says he’s fallen in love with the country and its people. He hopes eventually to go back to help rebuild the country.

If anyone would like to contact George Fox, his email address is georgesfox@msn.com

Jack Graham had a long career with Pennysylvania State Parks, and since 2005 Jack and his wife Tobi have lived at lighthouses all over the map as resident docents and caretakers. They’ve also been involved in historical re-enactment groups since 1976, both as performers and costume makers. Jack also does old-time storytelling as Pennsylvania Jack, performing at venues all around the state. And he is an avid lighthouse researcher who has written dozens of articles for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s magazine The Keeper’s Log and for Lighthouse Digest magazine.

Jack and Tobi Graham at Cape Lookout Light Station, North Carolina

Tobi and Jack have lived and worked as volunteers at such iconic light stations as Seguin Island in Maine, Cape Meares in Oregon, Split Rock in Minnesota, and most recently Cape Lookout in North Carolina. At some of these locations they have portrayed a keeper and his wife in living history presentations.

This is part two of two parts.

Some of the places where Jack and Tobi have volunteered:

Cape Meares, Oregon Swallowtail, New Brunswick Little River, Maine

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Jack Graham was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A retired Pennsylvania State Park manager, he’s been an active volunteer in many areas of state and national history. Jack is also an old-time storyteller who performs as Pennsylvania Jack. As Pennsylvania Jack, he has performed at events at the state museum in Harrisburg, and at many other venues and events. Jack is also a longtime lighthouse aficionado who has written many articles – around 50 in all – for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s quarterly journal The Keeper’s Log and for Lighthouse Digest magazine.

Jack and Tobi Graham at Little River Light Station in Maine

Jack’s wife Tobi Graham grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. Her family spent summers on the Jersey shore within sight of Barnegat Lighthouse. Tobi taught both art and French in grades K through 12 for many years. She is an accomplished photographer and uses her photos to give illustrated talks on wild flowers and herbs, and more recently to accompany Jack’s articles on lighthouse topics.

Some of the places where Jack and Tobi have worked as docents:

Seguin Island, Maine Piney Point, Maryland Split Rock, Minnesota

Jack and Tobi married in 1970 and have a son and a daughter, both of whom also have a son and a daughter. Since 2005 Jack and Tobi have served as lighthouse caretakers at sites throughout the United States – 17 locations in all. The places they’ve lived have included the historic light stations at Seguin Island and Little River Island in Maine, several in Michigan, Piney Point in Maryland, Cape Lookout in North Carolina, and even Swallowtail Light Station in New Brunswick, Canada.

This is the first of two parts.

Ida Lewis was featured on the cover of Harper’s Weekly in July 1869

Ida Lewis, born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1842, became one of the most celebrated lighthouse keepers in American history. Her father, Hosea Lewis, was appointed the first keeper of the Lime Rock Light Station in Newport Harbor in 1853, and Ida learned to care for the light as a teenager. Hosea Lewis suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1857. From that time, young Ida was essentially the keeper, although she didn’t get the official appointment until much later. Ida’s rowing skills and courage were to come into play many times during her life at Lime Rock. Officially, she’s credited with 18 lives saved, but the number was probably much higher. She remained keeper at Lime Rock until her death in 1911.

Lenore Skomal

There are two guests in today’s episode. Lenore Skomal is the winner of multiple awards for literature, biography, and humor, with over 30 years of professional writing experience as a journalist, columnist, author, and playwright, and 17 books published to date. Lenore’s book on Ida Lewis, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, was originally published in 2002. The New York Public Library listed it as a 2003 best book for teens.

Nico Raineau

The book has now been optioned to be adapted into a motion picture to be directed by Nico Raineau. Nico is an award-winning filmmaker originally from Mystic, Connecticut. His career began as the assistant to actor/director Ben Affleck on the film The Town, before he transitioned into creative development for Robert Downey Jr. and multiple Academy Award winning producers. Nico is currently producing and fundraising for a new short film that will bring attention to the Ida Lewis film project.

Timothy Mount and Lynne Macco live in the Adirondack region of New York, but they have spent a good part of their lives going back to 2008 serving as volunteer caretakers at lighthouses in far flung corners of the earth. Lynne is a retired physician, and Tim is a professor emeritus of music at Stony Brook University. Both of them are also experienced boat captains.

Lynne Macco and Timothy Mount at Seguin Island Light Station in Maine

Their caretaking experience began with three months at Maine’s Seguin Island Light Station in the summer of 2008. In 2009 they became the first caretakers of Bakers Island Light Station in Salem, Massachusetts for the Essex National Heritage Commission. In the summer of 2013 Lynne and Tim were caretakers at remote Five Finger Lighthouse in Frederick Sound, Alaska. In 2018, they spent a summer as caretakers at the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, working on conservation projects and educating the public about the refuge. In between other caretaking gigs, Tim and Lynne spent three separate stretches as the caretakers at Deal Island Lighthouse in Tasmania, Australia. There they greeted visitors and maintained buildings including a museum, and looked after 10 miles of trails.

Bakers Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

In the winter of 2020, the couple served as campus hosts at the Schoodic Institute in the Schoodic Peninsula section at Maine’s Acadia National Park. Then, this past summer, they were the first-ever volunteer caretakers at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, also in Acadia National Park.

Bass Harbor Head Light Station, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

Jeremy D’Entremont at Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Bob Trapani, Jr., at Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse in Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

In this second of a two-part interview with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont, guest interviewer Bob Trapani asks Jeremy about his decades of experiences in the world of lighthouse preservation, and about humorous and scary experiences in the course of visiting remote lighthouse locations. Bob and Jeremy also discuss the changes they’ve seen in the lighthouse world, and Jeremy names his favorite lighthouses.

Jeremy is the historian for the U.S. Lighthouse Society and has produced this podcast since 2019. He also oversees the Society’s J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. He has called his position with USLHS his dream job, the culmination of nearly 40 years in the lighthouse world.

Bob Trapani, Jr., who conducted this interview, has been the executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation for the past 18 years. He is the author of several books and is also an aids to navigation technician.

Desiree Heveroh at East Brother Light Station in Richmond, California

Desiree Heveroh describes herself a steward and keeper of the history of the city of Richmond, California, located in the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay region. She was a longtime board member of the East Brother Light Station, which is situated on an island in the strait that separates San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. East Brother is open to the public as a B&B inn, and Desiree actually lived in the lighthouse for 14 months during the COVID pandemic. She’s also the shipkeeper for the historic SS Red Oak Victory Ship in Richmond.

Desiree has a new book out, co-written with Victoria Stuhr. The book is simply titled Richmond. It’s one of Arcadia Publishing’s “Past and Present” series, which offers a special view of American life by placing historical images side-by-side with contemporary photographs. Jen Lewis, fundraising and outreach manager at the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse in northern California, co-hosts this episode.

In this episode, the tables are turned on U.S Lighthouse Society historian and Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont as he is interviewed by his friend Bob Trapani, executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation. This is part one of two parts. Among the subjects discussed are Jeremy’s nearly 40 years researching, writing about, and photographing lighthouses, as well as his work in the field of lighthouse preservation.

Jeremy D’Entremont aboard the clipper ship Cutty Sark in Greenwich, England. Photo by Jeremy Hawes. Bob Trapani (left) and Jeremy D’Entremont in the lantern room at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Hampshire. Photo by Ann Trapani.

Jeremy began writing articles on lighthouse history in the 1990s and his first of more than 20 books — The Lighthouses of Connecticut — was published in 2005. Jeremy is the president and historian of the American Lighthouse Foundation, and he founded Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses in 2001 as a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation.

He has served as the historian of the U.S. Lighthouse Society since 2019. This podcast was launched in June of that year. Jeremy has also been involved in many USLHS video productions, virtual events, and the Society’s domestic and international tours.

Jeremy lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with his wife, Charlotte Raczkowski.

Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy, about seven miles east of West Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine. Swallowtail Lighthouse was built on a peninsula at the northeastern corner of the island in response to a number of shipwrecks. The lighthouse began service in 1860 and is one of the oldest wooden lighthouses still in operation. The light station was automated and destaffed in the 1980s. In 2012, the property was turned over to the Village of Grand Manan. A community group called the Swallowtail Keepers Society has a long-term lease to care for the light station. The interior of the lighthouse has been converted into a museum.

Swallowtail Lighthouse, New Brunswick, Canada. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Machias Seal Island Light Station Long Eddy Light Station Ken Ingersoll

Marine biologist Laurie Murison and her husband Ken Ingersoll spearheaded the initial fundraising for the Swallowtail Keepers Society and the formation of the museum in the tower. Ken Ingersoll is now the volunteer keeper for Swallowtail and also Long Eddy Light on Grand Manan. He’s also one of the country’s few remaining keepers still working for the Canadian Coast Guard, at Machias Seal Island Light Station.

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Kraig Anderson

Kraig Anderson is the owner and webmaster of one of the most popular lighthouse-related websites on the internet, lighthousefriends.com. Kraig grew up in the landlocked state of Utah and didn’t move to a state with lighthouses until he attended graduate school at the University of California Santa Barbara. After earning his PhD in 1995, he worked for a few years at a high-tech company in the Bay Area, and it was while on an extended assignment from this job to the Raleigh/Durham area that he became interested in lighthouses following a day trip to Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island on the Outer Banks.

After returning to California, Kraig planned a few trips with friends to explore lighthouses on the West Coast, and in 2001, he launched lighthousefriends.com to chronicle these journeys and help others discover lighthouses. Over the next decade or so, he managed to visit every lighthouse in the United States and a good portion of those in Canada. Using historic records and photographs gathered in his travels, Kraig compiled a history of each lighthouse in the United States and Canada to complement his photography.

Screen grab from lighthousefriends.com

Kraig co-authored a book on the lighthouses of New Brunswick in 2012, and in 2016, he received the “Modern Day Light Keeper Award” from the National Lighthouse Museum. During 2018 and 2019, Kraig compiled an inventory of keepers and other lighthouse personnel for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s research catalog that includes over 25,000 individuals. He currently serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales takes part in this discussion with Kraig Anderson and Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont. This episode is also available in a video version on the USLHS YouTube channel.

Clare Island is at the entrance to Clew Bay, off Ireland’s western Atlantic coast. It’s the largest of Clew Bay’s 365 islands, only six of which are inhabited year-round. It rises to a height of 1520 feet and is an important breeding ground for seabirds. The family of the legendary pirate queen Grace O’Malley owned the island during the Middle Ages, and many of the O’Malley clan are buried at an abbey on the south side of the island.

Clare Island Light Station, Ireland. Photos courtesy of Sherry FitzGerald Limited 

The island’s original lighthouse was built in 1806, but it was damaged by fire seven years later due to the careless disposal of candle wicks by the keeper. A new lighthouse was built in 1818, serving until it was decommissioned in 1965. A German pathologist, Goesta Fischer, bought the property in 2008 in partnership with Roie McCann, an interior designer.

After five years of renovation, Clare Island Lighthouse was opened in 2013 as a luxury boutique hotel. It won an award as Europe’s Best Coastal Boutique Hotel in 2016. The property is now for sale. Roie McCann, general manager of Clare Island Lighthouse, is interviewed in this episode.

Roie McCann at Clare Island Lighthouse. Photo by Conor McKeown.

The town of Newport on the central Oregon coast is home to two picturesque lighthouses, at Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, a pretty two-story dwelling with an attached square wooden tower, began service in November 1871. It’s believed to be the oldest building in Newport and it’s the only surviving wooden lighthouse built by the federal government in Oregon. A short time later, less than four miles to the north, another lighthouse was built at Yaquina Head. A powerful first-order lens at that location went into service in August 1873. The 93-foot-tall brick tower is Oregon’s tallest lighthouse tower.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Oregon. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses, a nonprofit organization formed in 1988, now partners with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to support the preservation and interpretation of the Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay lighthouses. Amy Anderson is the executive director of Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses, and Andrew Smalldon is an education technician for the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Oregon. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is hosting its annual “Evening of Romance & Renewal” on February 11th, which is the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. Jean Muchanic, executive director of Absecon Lighthouse, explains what the event is all about. This episode is co-hosted by Jen Lewis, fundraising and outreach manager for the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association in California.

Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey. Courtesy of Absecon Lighthouse.

In 1990, Goat Island Light Station, at the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor in southern Maine, became one of the last light stations in the country to be automated and destaffed. After automation, the island became the property of the nonprofit Kennebunkport Conservation Trust.

Goat Island Light Station, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

A project to rebuild the station’s fog bell tower and the covered walkway between the tower and keeper’s house was completed in the fall of 2011. The station’s fog bell, long on display at the Kennebunkport Historical Society, was returned to the island and now hangs on the side of the bell tower. The Trust now faces a new challenge with the loss of the power cable that provided electricity on the island.

A view from the top of the lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont The lighthouse at sunset, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

Scott Dombrowski, the island overseer for the trust, has spent much time on the island over the past 30 years with his wife, Karen, and their two sons, Eric and Gregory. Tom Bradbury is the executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. This is part two of a two-part interview with Karen and Scott Dombrowski, along with Tom Bradbury. Also taking part in the discussion is Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, along with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont.

Watch the Goat Island Lighthouse dedication event that took place on October 12, 2011:

https://youtu.be/aZr15o5dXtw

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Cape Porpoise is a small coastal village in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. More than a dozen islands protect the deep, sheltered harbor at Cape Porpoise, and it grew into a busy center for fishing and lobstering.

Goat Island Light Station, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Goat Island Light Station was established in 1833 to help guide mariners into the harbor. A 20-foot stone tower and dwelling were built, and John Lord of Kennebunk became the first keeper at a salary of $350 per year. In 1859, the tower and house were rebuilt. The brick tower is 25 feet tall with its light 38 feet above mean high water.

Tom Bradbury, executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. (Courtesy of the KPT)

In 1990, Goat Island Light became the last lighthouse in Maine to be automated. In 1992, Goat Island was leased to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. The light station officially became the property of the trust under the Maine Lights Program in 1998. Since its founding in 1969, the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust has protected about 2800 acres of town land from development.

The Trust has carried out many restoration projects at Goat Island, but it currently faces a new challenge with the failure of the underwater cable that provides electrical power to the island.

There are three guests in this episode, which is the first of two parts. Scott Dombrowski, the island overseer for the trust, has lived on the island much of the time over the past 30 years with his wife, Karen, and their two sons. Tom Bradbury is the executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont and Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, met with Scott, Karen, and Tom at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust headquarters in December.

(Right: Scott and Karen Dombrowski on Goat Island)

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The Florida reef lights date back to 1852 when Carysfort Reef Lighthouse was completed under the direction of Lt. George Meade of the Army Corps of Engineers. Sombrero Key Lighthouse was built a few years later, and then Alligator Reef was built as the third of the reef lights in 1873. Alligator Reef Lighthouse is about four nautical miles offshore from the village of Islamorada. The reef is named for the U.S. Navy schooner Alligator, which was launched at Boston in 1820.

Alligator Reef Lighthouse, courtesy of Friends of the Pool, Inc.

The lighthouse was established on the northeast end of the reef in 1873, with a light 136 feet above the water. The iron skeletal tower stands on pilings that are driven 10 feet into the coral. The cost of construction was $185,000, making it a very expensive project at the time. The light was automated and de-staffed in 1963. In 2021, under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the lighthouse was deeded to Friends of the Pool, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that has held an annual eight-mile round-trip swimming race to the lighthouse.

Rob Dixon, left, and Larry Herlth

There are two guests in this episode, and both are leaders of the effort to preserve Alligator Reef Lighthouse. Rob Dixon is a longtime charter fishing boat operator and open water swimmer based in Islamorada, and he’s the president of Friends of the Pool. Larry Herlth is a metal artisan specializing in incredibly detailed replicas of the Florida Keys Lighthouses, and he’s also a swimmer who inaugurated the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse. He’s known widely as Lighthouse Larry.

Point Cabrillo is in Northern California, about midway between San Francisco and the border with Oregon. In 1908 an octagonal lighthouse tower was built with an integral fog signal building in an attractive building that’s built of local redwood and Douglas fir. Three dwellings were also erected for the keepers and their families. The lantern was fitted with a third-order Fresnel lens created by Chance Brothers of England. It’s one of only three British-built lenses still in use in the United States. Today Point Cabrillo Light Station is a California State Historic Park. The nonprofit Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association manages and interprets the site.

Point Cabrillo Light Station in 2015. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Jen Lewis

Sometime before 8 a.m. on the morning of January 5th, Point Cabrillo Lighthouse was hit by at least one massive wave that broke open the back doors and flooded the interior of the lighthouse gift shop and museum. There was significant damage to museum displays, exhibits, and gift shop items. The park and lighthouse are closed as the cleanup continues.

Jen Lewis, the fundraising and outreach manager for the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association, was on the site shortly after the damage was done. U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales also took part in this conversation along with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont.

A gallery of photos showing the damage of January 5, 2023 (courtesy of the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association):

Some video of the waves at Point Cabrillo on the morning of January 5 (courtesy of Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association):

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From December 21 through 26, 2022, an historic extratropical bomb cyclone brought blizzard conditions and winter storms to much of Canada and the United States, killing at least 71 people and cancelling or delaying more than 10,000 flights during the busy Christmas travel season. The storm was unofficially named Winter Storm Elliott by The Weather Channel. Meanwhile, a separate storm moved into the Pacific Northwest on December 23. The storm knocked out power for more than 30,000 people in Washington State and Oregon.

The walkway to Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Hampshire, was mostly destroyed by Storm Elliott just before Christmas. Photo by Ann Trapani.

In Storm Elliott, northwestern Michigan got nearly 43 inches of snow. Buffalo, New York’s 37.5 hours of blizzard conditions was the longest blizzard in the city’s history. As the storm began to exit the United States, it brought the fourth highest high tide on record to Portland, Maine. At Portland Head Light in Maine, one of the most visited lighthouses in the world, damage included a window smashed on the keeper’s house, and a door broken in on the lighthouse tower entryway. At Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse on the New Hampshire Seacoast, the 80-foot walkway that led out to the lighthouse was largely destroyed. Meanwhile, the headquarters of the U.S. Lighthouse Society at the Point No Point Light Station in Washington state was closed due to flooding.

Taking part in a December 30 discussion of the storms were the following people: Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society; Mike Vogel, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society; Michelle Jewell Shaw, frequent co-host of this podcast and chairperson of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses; Bob Trapani, executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation; Art Greene, chair of the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust in South Portland, Maine; Chad Kaiser, general manager of New Dungeness Lighthouse in Washington; Nick Korstad, owner of the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B in Michigan; and Cindy Johnson, frequent Light Hearted co-host and member of the Chapter Leadership Committee of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses. Interviewed in a separate segment was Kathleen Raftice, director of Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Waves at Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine during Storm Elliott. Photo by Benjamin Williamson. Point No Point Light Station, Washington, suffered extreme flooding in late December. U.S. Lighthouse Society photo.

This episode is also available in extended video form on the USLHS YouTube channel.

Pencarrow Lighthouse (1859) was the first permanent lighthouse in New Zealand. Mary Jane Bennett – the first official lighthouse keeper in New Zealand, and the only woman to ever hold the role – is profiled in “Guiding Lights.”

This is another episode of Light Hearted Lite, the series where we revisit interviews from the past six years of Light Hearted. First is a chat about an upcoming virtual conference the U.S. Lighthouse Society will be hosting in March. The conference will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 and will feature a broad spectrum of presenters. Joining us for this discussion are Henry Gonzalez, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and Kathy Fleming, vice president.

Shona Riddell

Author Shona Riddell was interviewed in episode 82 back in September 2020. Shona lives in Wellington, New Zealand, and her 2020 book, Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women, shares the stories of lighthouse women from around the world and through the centuries, including heroic female keepers, isolated families, and dedicated caretakers. This is an edited version of the 2020 conversation.

Bakers Island Light Station is off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts, a few miles north of Boston. The station was established in 1798 and the lighthouse tower that stands today was built in 1820. The 10-acre site is owned by the Essex National Heritage Commission, also known as Essex Heritage, a non-profit organization that manages and oversees the unique heritage resources of the Essex National Heritage Area. During the summer season, Essex Heritage offers public tours to the light station by boat, as well as overnight stays with a campground and accommodations in the historic assistant keepers’ house. Each year, volunteer caretakers stay on the island throughout the summer. Volunteers Tara and Brian Flanagan have spent the past five summers living and working at the light station, logging more than 1,500 hours worked each season.

Bakers Island Light Station, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Brian and Tara have sailed more than 10,000 miles visiting the Bahamas, the Florida Keys, and the Gulf Coast of Florida, as well as transiting the Intracoastal Waterway six times. In 2017, they had the opportunity to be seasonal caretakers at the historic light station on Seguin Island, off the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine. They started at Bakers Island Light Station in 2018 and recently finished their fifth and final season there. They are now the winter caretakers for the residential portion of Bakers Island.

Brian and Tara Flanagan in the lantern room at Bakers Island Lighthouse. (Courtesy of Brian and Tara Flanagan)

Borden Flats Lighthouse in 1900, from the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office.

Borden Flats Lighthouse was built in 1881 on a dangerous reef to help guide increased shipping traffic as the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, became an important center for textile manufacturing. In fact, the city grew to become the largest textile producing center in the United States during the 1800s, with over 100 mills in operation by 1920. Borden Flats Lighthouse is a cast-iron tower on a cylindrical caisson – the type of lighthouse that’s often called a sparkplug light.

Borden Flats Lighthouse

In 2006, it was announced that the lighthouse would be available for transfer to a suitable buyer under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.  There were no applicants, so the lighthouse was at government auction to the general public. The eventual buyer, Nick Korstad, completed much renovation and opened the lighthouse for tours and overnight stays in 2016. In 2018, Nick bought the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B in Michigan, and he sold Borden Flats to Kevin Ferias. Kevin, a Rhode Island native, is the media director for New England Laborers.

In part two of a two-part interview, Kevin and Nick compare notes on paranormal activity at the lighthouse, along with many other aspects of owning an offshore lighthouse.

The city of Fall River, Massachusetts, situated where the Taunton River flows into Mount Hope Bay, was famed as the “Textile Capital of the World” in the nineteenth century. A lighthouse was established on Borden Flats at the mouth of the Taunton River in 1881. It took the form of a cast-iron tower on a caisson base, with a fixed red light 47 feet above mean high water. The structure was battered in the hurricane of September 21, 1938, and a new, much wider cylindrical caisson was added around the old one to provide more protection.

Borden Flats Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Nick Korstad, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Kevin Ferias

In 2006, it was announced that the lighthouse would be sold at auction to the general public. The initial sale couldn’t be finalized, so another auction was held in 2010. The winner was Nick Korstad of Portland, Oregon, who bought the property for more than $56,000 with the intention of fixing it up and opening it to the public. In 2011, he gave the lighthouse a new color scheme with a red band and a red lantern roof. Nick did much restoration of the lighthouse inside and out, and he made it available for public tours and overnight stays. In May 2018, he sold the property to a new owner, Kevin Ferias, who has continued opening it for overnight stays. Nick now owns the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, while Kevin just finished another season at Borden Flats. This is part one of two parts.

Website for Borden Flats Lighthouse

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Emma Choi

The guests in this episode are the hosts of their own highly successful podcasts. Emma Choi is a comic and writer and host of the weekly short-form comedy National Public Radio podcast Everyone & Their Mom. In 2021, Emma joined the NPR program Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! as an intern. She worked with the Wait Wait team to create the podcast Everyone & Their Mom, which began airing in February 2022. Emma is set to graduate from Harvard University in 2023 with a major in English and, she claims, a minor in tomfoolery.

Kylie Low

Kylie Low is a podcast manager and content creator based in Portland, Maine. She’s the executive producer of the chart-topping Goal Digger Podcast and she hosts her own show, Dark Downeast — a true crime podcast dedicated to the stories of Maine and New England.

Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont has appeared on Dark Downeast discussing lighthouse ghost stories and other topics. The Everyone & Their Mom crew visited Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Hampshire this past October for a segment. In this episode, Kylie and Emma discuss their ideas about attracting a younger and broader demographic to lighthouse preservation.

According to an old Native American legend, there was a giant devil who caused much mayhem in a region that included parts of what is now Westchester County and the Bronx, New York, and portions of southeastern Connecticut. The giant was chased from the area by warriors, but he threw huge rocks at them across Long Island Sound. Some of the boulders landed in the sound and he used them as stepping stones to make an escape. Early maps noted the reefs in Long Island Sound as the “Devil’s Stepping Stones” after the Native American legend.

Bob Muller

Stepping Stones Lighthouse was built in 1876 to warn mariners of the dangerous rocks and also to serve as a guide into the East River. The light was automated in 1964, and the lighthouse was awarded to the Town of North Hempstead in 2008 under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The Town of North Hempstead, the Great Neck Park District, and the Great Neck Historical Society have forged a public/private partnership to work for the restoration of the lighthouse.

Bob Lincoln

The lighthouse is in poor condition and is in desperate need of repair.  If it decays any further, there is a probability that it will be demolished, and a modern automated navigational beacon erected in its place. Bob Muller is the president of the Long Island Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society and author of the book Long Island’s Lighthouses: Past and Present. Bob Lincoln was the longtime commissioner of the Great Neck Parks District and is the committee chairperson of the Stepping Stones Lighthouse Restoration Committee.

Great Neck Historical Society page for the lighthouse

The port of San Luis, California, developed into a major shipping point in the 1870s. A lighthouse at Point San Luis began operation on June 30, 1890. The beautiful Victorian building consists of a square wooden tower attached to a keeper’s dwelling. The Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers, a dedicated group of preservationists established in 1995, spearheaded a 15-year restoration effort that led to the lighthouse being opened to the public. Docent-led tours are available year-round.

Point San Luis (San Luis Obispo) Light Station in 1894. (U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office)

Kathy Mastako is a docent and historian for the Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers. She has written numerous articles for the organization’s newsletter, for the Avila Beach Life newspaper, Lighthouse Digest magazine, and for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s quarterly journal, The Keeper’s Log. Kathy’s new book The Lighthouse at Point San Luis, has just been published by the U.S. Lighthouse Society. The book tells the stories of the keepers and families at the Point San Luis Light Station, civilian and Coast Guard, from 1890 to its 1975 automation.

Buy the book on Amazon

The Light Hearted podcast was launched in June 2019 to serve as a place for the exchange of information and ideas about lighthouses in the United States and around the world. Since then, there have been 200 numbered episodes, plus more than a dozen “special editions.” This episode celebrates episode 200 with comments from many guests who have appeared on the podcast previously.

Many guests from past episodes contributed messages for this special 200th episode. Cindy Johnson Michelle Jewell Shaw Jeremy D’Entremont

Also included: host Jeremy D’Entremont asks co-hosts Michelle Jewell Shaw and Cindy Johnson why lighthouses still matter. There’s also a discussion of the podcast with U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales. And, of course, blooper reels!

Armand Houde was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1927. He served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Gage and took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima, receiving a WWII Victory Medal, American Theatre Ribbon, and Asiatic Pacific Area Ribbon with Star, and various other medals. Houde continued in the Coast Guard after World War II and served at several shore stations and on several vessels, including the Handkerchief Shoal Lightship, before coming to Portland Head Light Station in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Portland Head Light Station, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

He was at Portland Head from March 1963 to October 1965, and then served as keeper at Annisquam Light Station in Gloucester, Massachusetts, from October 1965 to November 1967. His later Coast Guard experience included more time on lightships and at stations on Cape Cod. Armand Houde retired from the Coast Guard in 1978, and he died in August 2000 in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Annisquam Light Station, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

In this interview, Houde’s children Janice Reynolds and Ed Houde recall their family’s time living at light stations and other aspects of their father’s career.

Ed Houde and Janice Reynolds. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Four light stations were established on Maine’s Kennebec River in 1898, on the approach to the busy shipbuilding center of Bath. The keeper’s house at one of the stations, Doubling Point, was sold to a private owner in 1935. The house has been owned for many years by Jim and Joyce Spencer, who also spearheaded the formation of the nonprofit Friends of Doubling Point Light in the late 1990s.

The front range light of the Kennebec River (Doubling Point) Range Lights, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

In 1982, Coast Guard first class boatswain’s mate Karen McLean became the officer in charge at the Kennebec River Range Lights Station (also known as the Doubling Point Range Lights). In that position, she was also in charge of the light stations at Squirrel Point and Doubling Point. She was one of the first women and the last female to become officer-in-charge of a Coast Guard family light station. In early 1987, Karen’s husband, Lt. Dan McLean, took charge of the station. Karen and Dan have now stepped into lead roles for the Friends of Doubling Point Light.

Squirrel Point Lighthouse Doubling Point Lighthouse

This is part two of a two-part interview with Jim and Joyce Spencer along with Karen and Dan McLean. Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, co-hosts.

November 4, 2022

This is a special bonus episode of Light Hearted. The subject is a new play called A Safe Passage, being performed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from November 4 through November 13. The play, which is definitely of interest to lighthouse fans, is presented by Glass Dove Productions at the Players Ring Theatre in Portsmouth.

The Players Ring Theatre is located at Prescott Park on the waterfront of Portsmouth. Since 1992, it’s been a center for the production of new and original plays by regional artists.

Andrew Codispoti and Emily Karel in A Safe Passage (Courtesy of the Players Ring)

Here is a description of the play: “New Years Eve, Ireland, 1979. Christy, a lonely lighthouse keeper, is not entirely certain he wants to see 1980. He has lost his wife, his daughter, and his will to go on. But when he sees a young woman on the rocks poised to jump into the sea, he races into the storm to pull her back from the brink. But Christy is about to realize that the woman is not what she seems and this final rescue is much more than he bargained for.”

Irene Kelleher, who wrote “A Safe Passage,” has said, “’A Safe Passage’ was born out of my stay at an Irish lighthouse. It is a story of lost and found. A story of two people, extremely different, who have found themselves isolated and adrift from the rest of the world. A story of Christy the lightkeeper, who shines a ceaseless vigil for all at sea but is lost himself, and the young woman who does not want to be saved.”

The interview in this podcast episode is with two people involved in the production – the director, Catherine Stewart, and Emily Karel, who co-stars in the play and is also a producer.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0kHznAtId8Y

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, photo by Gary Point

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is at the northern end of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, offshore from the community of Riverside. Alex Dias joined the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse (a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation) in 2012, but his fascination with lighthouses dates back to 2005 when he was in the 5th grade. He’s been involved with virtually every aspect of the group, including the development of the museum inside the keeper’s quarters, the ongoing restoration of the building inside and out, and helping to facilitate public tours. Alex has a captain’s license and brings many guests out to the lighthouse, in addition to serving as a tour guide himself.

Alex Dias

Alex became the chairman of the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse earlier this year, and he’s on the board of directors of the American Lighthouse Foundation. He received a Len Hadley Volunteerism Award from the foundation in 2017. His brother, Adam, is also a volunteer and currently serves as the treasurer of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. Adam received the Len Hadley Volunteerism Award in 2023. Judianne Point co-hosts this episode.

Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse volunteers during the installation of Pomham’s fourth-order Fresnel lens in the lighthouse museum in September 2021. Alex and Adam Dias are behind the lens. Co-host Judianne Point is second from right. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

The city of Bath, Maine, on the Kennebec River, has long been known as the City of Ships. By 1800, Bath’s shipyards were producing vessels used in domestic and international trade. Doubling Point Lighthouse was established in 1898 on the northwest end of Arrowsic Island, at a sharp double bend in the Kennebec River, near the shipyards of Bath. It was one of several aids to navigation built on the river in the same year.

Doubling Point Lighthouse, Maine. In the background is the Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics — one of the largest defense contractors in the world and one of the largest employers in the state of Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

In 1935, the keeper’s house at Doubling Point was sold to a private owner. The keeper at the range light station a short distance away became responsible for both stations. Responsibility for looking after the light later went to the keeper at Squirrel Point Light Station in 1980. Beginning in the early 1980s, Doubling Point Light was again monitored from the Doubling Point Range Lights Station. It became the job of one keeper to look after the Range Lights, Doubling Point Light, and Squirrel Point Light, as well as their fog signals. For a few years, this job was performed by Coast Guard Boatswain Mate Karen McLean, one of a very small number of female Coast Guard lighthouse keepers.

L to R: Dan and Karen McLean; Jim and Joyce Spencer. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

This is part 1 of 2 parts. The guests in this episode are Karen and Dan McLean, who are now taking the lead roles in the Friends of Doubling Point Light organization. Also joining in the interview is Jim Spencer, founder of Friends of Doubling Point Light, and his wife Joyce. Jim and Joyce are the longtime owners and residents of the keeper’s house at Doubling Point. This episode is co-hosted by Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation.

Patricia Heyer is a history buff with an interest in coastal folklore as well as research and marine science. She has written extensively for both children and adults during her career. She coauthored Shark Attacks of the New Jersey Shore: A History with her husband, Robert, in 2020. In 2021, Shark Attacks of New York: A History was released, as was Ghosts Along the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers.

Pat’s new book, Haunted Jersey Shore: Beaches, Boardwalks, and Lighthouses was published by the History Press in August. In the book, she uncovers the eerie mysteries that shroud many of the New Jersey shore’s iconic landmarks, including the lighthouses at Navesink, Cape May, Barnegat, Sandy Hook, and others.

Cape May Lighthouse Sandy Hook Lighthouse Barnegat LighthouseU.S. Lighthouse Society photos

Pat is an avid reader, beachcomber, and animal rescue supporter. She lives on the Jersey shore with her husband and their rescue cat, Gracie.

October 16, 2022

This is part two of a two-part interview with three people involved with the preservation of historic Wood Island Light Station near Biddeford Pool in southern Maine. Brad Coupe is one of the founders of Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse and served as its longtime chairperson, and George Bruns is the current chairperson. Richard Parsons serves as the group’s historian and his new book, Wood Island Lighthouse: Stories from the Edge of the Sea, was published this year by the History Press.

Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Sarah MacHugh co-hosts with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont. Episodes 194 and 195 are also available in video versions on the USLHS YouTube channel.

Early 1900s postcard of Wood Island Light Station The boat ride to Wood Island from Biddeford Pool