Episode 81 – From the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s, Nantucket, Massachusetts, was the world’s leading whaling port. In the late 1840s, a bluff at Sankaty Head in the village of ‘Sconset on the island’s southeast coast was chosen as a lighthouse site. Today, the ’Sconset Trust is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the lighthouse and its grounds. Rob Benchley is now the modern-day keeper of Sankaty Head Lighthouse. Rob is an accomplished photojournalist who has been the staff photographer for three island newspapers.
Episode 82 – Shona Riddell, who lives in New Zealand, has been writing for as long as she can remember. Both of her parents were writers, and Shona’s first article was published in 2000 in the New Zealand Herald. She’s worked as a magazine writer, web writer and editor, and as content marketer for several companies. Shona’s latest book, Guiding Lights, shares the stories of lighthouse women from around the world and through the centuries, including heroic female keepers, isolated families, dedicated caretakers – and the lingering ‘ghosts’ of old lighthouses.
Episode 83 – Greens Ledge is one of several treacherous formations near Norwalk Harbor in Connecticut. A 52-foot lighthouse on the ledge was finished in 1902. It’s a cast-iron tower on a cylindrical cast-iron concrete-filled foundation, typical of offshore “sparkplug” lights built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the lighthouse was auctioned in 2016. Tim Pettee is the president of the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society and his son, Alex, is the treasurer.
Episode 84 – Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, located offshore from the southern tip of the peninsula where Annapolis, Maryland, is located, is the last surviving screw-pile lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay. A lifelong Chesapeake Bay sailor, David Gendell is the cofounder of SpinSheet, an Annapolis-based Chesapeake Bay sailing magazine. He’s a U.S. Coast Guard–licensed captain, an accomplished racing sailor, and an earnest fisherman. David’s new book Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: A Chesapeake Bay Icon, published by The History Press, was released on October 12. A portion of the proceeds from the book is being donated to the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse preservation efforts.
Episode 85 –Annamaria Mariotti is the author of many books, articles, and stories related to the sea. Most of her writing has been in Italian, but in 2005 she published The World’s Greatest Lighthouses in English, as well as in other languages. In 2006, the General Command of the Harbor Offices, Coast Guard, and the Mediaset Group awarded her the NAVIGARE INFORMATI Award “For her constant commitment to the dissemination of maritime culture in our country.”
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org