With foreign trade blossoming from Newport, Rhode Island, local merchants petitioned for a lighthouse at Beavertail Point at the southern tip of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, and a 69-foot-tall wooden tower was first lighted in 1749. It was the third light station in the American colonies. The 45-foot square granite lighthouse that… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 321: Nancy Beye, David Smith, and Varoujan Karentz – Beavertail, RI

This is part two of a two part interview with Lorna Pierce and Gloria Coder, the daughters of Seamond Ponsart Roberts (1940-2023). Seamond was the daughter of the longtime Massachusetts lighthouse keeper Octave Ponsart, and she was the author of the book Everyday Heroes, The True Story of a Lighthouse Family. Seamond’s childhood was spent… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 320: Lorna Pierce and Gloria Coder: Remembering Seamond Ponsart Roberts, part 2 of 2

The guests in this episode are Gloria Coder and Lorna Pierce. Gloria and Lorna are the daughters of the late Seamond Ponsart Roberts (1940-2023). Seamond was the daughter of a longtime lighthouse keeper in Massachusetts, and she was the author of the book Everyday Heroes: The True Story of a Lighthouse Family. Seamond’s father, Octave… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 319 – Lorna Pierce and Gloria Coder: Remembering Seamond Ponsart Roberts, part 1 of 2

A light station was established on Maine’s 220-acre Great Duck Island in 1890, with a 42-foot-tall brick tower and three keepers’ dwellings. Only one of the three houses remain standing today. The light was automated in 1986 and it remains an active aid to navigation. In 1998 Great Duck Island Light Station, along with Mount… Continue reading Light Hearted Lite #22 – John Anderson, Great Duck Island, Maine

In January 2024, two powerful storms — just three days apart — struck northern New England, coinciding with the highest tide ever recorded in Portland, Maine, at 14.75 feet. The damage was severe up and down the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire, and about a third of Maine’s 66 historic lighthouse sites suffered significant… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 318: The storms of 2024 and Maine’s lighthouses: David Pomerantz, Ford Reiche, and Bob Trapani

A lighthouse was proposed in 1896 to mark Peck (or Pecks) Ledge, at the east end of the Norwalk Islands in Connecticut. It began operation in 1906 and was the last staffed lighthouse to be built at a waveswept site on Long Island Sound. Its life as a staffed light was relatively short, only 27… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 317 – Artist Richard Klein and Peck Ledge, CT

This is an edited version of an interview with Sean Todd that was first heard in episode 72 in July 2020. Sean serves on the marine science faculty at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, and he’s also the director of Allied Whale, the college’s marine mammal research program. Mount Desert Rock, more… Continue reading Light Hearted Lite #21 – Sean Todd, Mount Desert Rock, Maine

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… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 316 – Rhode Island nautical photographer Matthew Cohen

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… Continue reading Light Hearted Lite #20 – USLHS’s Lighthouse Passport Program