Two Guys on Block Island

Dickie Stinson’s grandfather was a commercial fisherman who moved his family to Block Island in 1900 from Swan’s Island, Maine. His boat was amongst the vessels that helped rescue survivors of the Larchmont disaster.

Dickie was born in 1948. At eleven years old he followed family tradition and also became a commercial fisherman who honed his harpoon skills by practicing on Blue Sharks. Dickie’s life reads like the lyrics to Billy Joel’s, “The Downeaster Alexa”. Our conversation revolves largely around the glory days of the commercial swordfishing industry and like most fishermen- Dickie’s got plenty of stories.

Dickie’s been living year-round on Block Island for the last 15 years or so. He spent his summers here when he wasn’t out chasing fish (which was most of the time). “Home” is a relative term for most fishermen anyways as their passion for the salt water life takes precedence over any sort of hum-drum domestic existence.

Now in his 70’s, Dickie has occupied his time driving cab and shooting the breeze with those lucky enough to have their ears bent by this island legend’s tales. 

Please enjoy our chat with Bryan Wilson from Season One. We will miss you, Bryan.

Sue Hagedorn arrived on Block Island for the first time on a boat named, “Tor” (“Rot” spelled backwards). Sue and her family would cruise around Long Island Sound, land on Block Island and simply hang out. A self-proclaimed hippie, Sue definitely stuck out like a sore thumb amongst her family’s well-healed Yacht club friends. But that never bothered Sue much.

 Sue graduated college in 1967 as the summer of love kicked into full swing and took a job at Harvard. It was there she became a member of the radical activist group The Weathermen and took part in certain activities which landed her in the clink. Her stories from this period are beyond epic.  

With her “Wild Years” mostly behind her Sue has since lived a few different lives. From nurse to documentary film maker her path has been anything but straight and narrow. Smash the “Play” button to hear the rest.

Part two of our conversation with Doc Willis

Doc’s grandfather’s cousin Hiram Willis had a wholesale fish market down on Ballard’s dock waaaay back in the day. 

But Doc didn’t arrive here until many years later at the behest of Power Company Owner, Cliff McGinness. In 1972 (following a harrowing airplane ride) Doc swooped on to Block Island and saved the day. That winter the island was facing an extreme cold snap. We were without a resident Doctor and in the midst of a flu epidemic which had infected the power company’s chief engineer.  In the face of an island wide blackout (which given the frigid temps would’ve proved catastrophic) Doc administered care to several island residents and single-handedly helped Block Island dodge a mighty big bullet.

And that’s just his first trip to the island. Hit PLAY to see what’s happened over the last 51 years.

Play ball! Welcome to Season 4 of Two Guys on Block Island! Rich and Marc are back to dust off the microphones and bring you more great interviews with some of Block Island's most interesting characters.

It's been quite a winter for our hosts. Rich discusses his newfound "hipness" and a new plan for his taxi cab as well as plans for another Tretheway wedding! Marc talks about some musical projects, a trip to Key West with his buddy Rob Davis and a very exciting new summer side hustle.

After the sponsor break the guys dive into what went down over the winter on Block Island. While it was a pretty quiet summer all in all- some renovations to a few iconic island establishments and a new police chief had everyone a-buzzin'. But the REALLY big news?

...the stop sign at the bottom of the hill from the Oar towards Dead Eye Dick's has been replaced! With...wait for it...

...a YIELD sign! Woo hoo!

Welcome back! First full episode of season 4 drops April 19th!