Light Hearted

In episode 2 of the podcast, host Jeremy D’Entremont interviews Chad Kaiser, general manager of the New Dungeness Light Station in Sequim, Washington. Chad is also a lampist (Fresnel lens expert) and preservationist, and a “part two” of this interview will be heard in a future episode.

Chad and Jeremy (why does that sound familiar?) talk about the remoteness of New Dungeness, which is at the end of a five mile sand spit, and about the “keeper” program that offers individuals, families, and groups an opportunity to spend a week at the station while performing maintenance duties and providing tours.

Jeremy and co-host Cindy Johnson tell the story of the Pharos of Alexandria, the world’s first great lighthouse, and a model for many lighthouses that followed.

Jeremy and Cindy discuss a 1971 movie, The Light at the Edge of the World, starring Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner. The film was based on a novel by Jules Verne. It’s one of the rare adventure movies ever made where a lighthouse keeper is the hero.

There’s another trivia question and a chance to win prizes. Congratulations to Nancy McDowell and Jen Lewis, winners of the trivia contest in episode 1. The correct answer was that Hannah Thomas of Plymouth Lighthouse in Massachusetts was the first woman keeper in America in 1776.

This premiere episode of the new U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, with host Jeremy D’Entremont and co-host Cindy Johnson, was recorded at the Exeter Inn in Exeter, New Hampshire. In the first episode, Jeremy and Cindy talk about the origins of navigation in early society, and there’s a trivia question with prizes to be sent to the first two listeners with the correct answer. Entries should be emailed to [email protected], and it should be specified that the entry is answering the trivia question in Light Hearted episode 1.

The featured interview is with Sophie Blackall, the award winning author and illustrator of the children’s book “Hello Lighthouse.” The charming book, winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal as the most distinguished American picture book of the year for children, opens with the lines, “On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. It is built to last forever.”

We hope you enjoy this new podcast. There will be new episodes every Monday, with extra episodes some weeks. Future episodes will include interviews with lighthouse preservationists, historians, and authors from around the U.S., and even from other countries.

If you have ideas for features, you can email Jeremy at [email protected].