Light Hearted

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in May 2020. The guest is Richard Skidmore, who was the modern day keeper of Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts for 31 years. The light station at Gay Head was the first on Martha’s Vineyard, beginning service in 1799. The light station at Gay Head was the first on Martha’s Vineyard, beginning service in 1799. The 1856 brick lighthouse tower that stands today is perched on the famous Gay Head cliffs, which were named for their bright, multicolored layers of clay.

Besides being a 21st century lighthouse keeper, Richard Skidmore is an award-winning experimental filmmaker whose work has been seen on television and in many festivals. He’s also a former book reviewer for the New York Times. He was closely involved in the move of Gay Head Light in 2015, as discussed in the interview. 

Richard retired from his keeper position in 2021. His wife, Joan LeLacheur, a jewelry maker, shared the lighthouse keeping duties.

This is the audio from a live stream on September 16, 2026. The guest is Lenore Skomal, author of an acclaimed book about the celebrated lighthouse heroine Ida Lewis.

Ida Lewis began tending Lime Rock Light in Newport, Rhode Island, at the age of fifteen after her father, the keeper of the light, was disabled by a stroke. Ida was officially appointed to the job in 1879, and she remained at Lime Rock until her death in 1911. Ida saved at least 18 lives during her light keeping career, and she gained national prominence after one of her rescues in 1869.

Lenore Skomal’s book on Ida Lewis, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, was originally published in 2002. A new edition has just been published, and that’s one of the main topics of discussion in the conversation you’re about to hear. Joining Jeremy D’Entremont as co-host of this episode is Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, executive director of Presque Isle Light Station in Erie, Pennsylvania.

This is the audio from the Light Hearted Live episode of September 9. The guest is the acclaimed maritime historian and author Eric Jay Dolin.

Eric grew up near the beaches of New York and Connecticut, and from an early age he was fascinated by the ocean. He earned a masters degree in environmental management from Yale, then a Ph.D. in environmental policy and planning from MIT.

Eric has written 17 books and many articles on American history. His books include Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America; Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America; Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates; and A Furious Sky The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes. His books have won many awards.

Eric’s book Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse is discussed in this interview. Sea History Magazine called it “A must-read for anyone interested in lighthouses or America’s maritime history…This history of American lighthouses is both engaging and enjoyable.”

Ed Metcalf is from Winthrop, Massachusetts, on the north side of Boston Harbor. He served as a police officer in Winthrop, and he then worked for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. He became the game warden on Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1974, and he still lives there today. Born in 1933, his memories reach back to the late 1930s. Some of his visits to the harbor islands were guided by the popular historian and author Edward Rowe Snow.

He also frequented lighthouses in the harbor in the 1950s and ’60s, including Deer Island Light and Graves Light. He often brought newspapers, fish, and other things to the keepers. Deer Island, which is attached to Winthrop, was also home to a prison for many years. Ed also remembers visits to the range lights at Spectacle Island in the inner harbor before they were demolished in the 1950s. 

This is an edited version of an interview with Jem Finer that was first heard in June 2020.

In an area of London known as the Docklands is a part of the waterfront known as the Trinity Buoy Wharf. On the wharf is London’s only lighthouse. The lighthouse at the Trinity Buoy Wharf was never used for navigation. Completed in 1866, it was used by Trinity House for the training of prospective lighthouse keepers. The scientist Michael Faraday also carried out experiments there.

Musician and composer Jem Finer has repurposed the lighthouse in a unique way. His ambient sound piece called Longplayer started playing in the lighthouse at the stroke of midnight just as the year 2000 began. It’s been playing ever since, and the intention is that it won’t repeat until midnight on December 31, 2999. Longplayer is composed for singing bowls, a type of ancient bell.

Click here to listen to Longplayer

Lake Sunapee covers more than 4,000 acres in west-central New Hampshire, adjacent to Mount Sunapee State Park. The lake contains 11 islands and three lighthouses, which were built in the late 1800s during the steamboat era on the lake. A number of large resort hotels and private estates lined the lake’s shores in that era. Today, the three lighthouses are maintained by the Lake Sunapee Protective Association, or LSPA. The organization, founded in 1898, is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the environmental integrity of the Lake Sunapee Region.

Our guest, Midge Eliassen, is a past president of the LSPA. She’s been a photojournalist and she continues to capture the beauty of Lake Sunapee and its wildlife in her photography. Her extensive water sampling on the lake has been praised by Dartmouth College and others, and the LSPA awards a fellowship for lake research in Midge’s name. Midge was the recipient of the 2018 John F. Morten Award for Exemplary Lake Stewardship.

This episode features edited audio from our “Light Hearted Live” episode of August 19. Our guest, Anastasia Makarova, is from Russia and now lives in Slovenia. She is a lighthouse tour guide, club founder, writer, lecturer, and magazine editor – among other things! She’s also a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has recorded four albums. One of Anastasia’s current projects is the development of an online museum devoted to Augustin Fresnel and his lenses that were used in lighthouses all over the world.

You can see the entire live stream video from August 19 on our YouTube channel.

Hug a Lighthouse!

This is an edited version of an interview that was first heard in May 2021. The guest is Kirby Eldridge, a former Coast Guard lighthouse keeper. Kirby was one of the two last keepers of Boon Island Light Station, which is about seven miles off the coast of southern Maine. Kirby and the other keeper at the time, Leo Berry, had to evacuate Boon Island during the devastating Blizzard of 1978, and the light was automated soon after that.

In this interview, Kirby recalls his harrowing rescue during the blizzard, as well as memories of everyday life at one of America’s most desolate light stations.

Boston Light Station in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, holds an honored place among America’s lighthouses. It was established in 1716 as the first light station on the continent. It’s also one of a small number of lighthouses to achieve designation as a National Historic Landmark. This past week, it was announced that the light station will be available to a suitable new steward under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

This episode contains sound clips from the following: a 1939 newsreel; a 1988 interview with the son of Maurice Babcock; a 1980s clip of Keeper Ralph Norwood; a 1991 clip of Josephine Norwood, wife of Keeper Norwood; a 1989 clip of Coast Guard keeper Dennis Dever; a 1989 clip of Senator Edward M. Kennedy announcing legislation concerning Boston Light; and three clips of Sally Snowman, the last (2003-2023) keeper of the station.

Jazmina Barrera, a native of Mexico City, is an award-winning author. Her book On Lighthouses is equal parts personal memoir, literary history, and observations on lighthouses. The book was published in Spanish in 2017 and translated into English in 2020.

“Barrera’s obsession is contagious. Her graceful sentences ensnare tidbits of history and tantalizing glimpses of her own life, accompanied by delicate sketches of lighthouses she’s visited, making this book a refuge from everyday life, a place of enchantment and safety.” —Shelf Awareness.

This is the audio from the live stream of July 29, 2026. You can see the video on YouTube.