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Enjoy browsing through the variety of books published, produced and distributed by Penobscot Books. We feature books that celebrate our area’s uniqueness and spectacular nature and scenic beauty, including history, memories, cookbooks and children’s books. Also available are 1880s reproduction maps of our area and DVDs featuring Deer Isle and Castine.
Floating Palaces America's Queens of the Sea Maine Island Mariners and the Big Steam Yachts
Floating Palaces America's Queens of the Sea Maine Island Mariners and the Big Steam Yachts
By William A. Haviland & Barbara L. Britton
This is the story of families who settled on Deer Isle off the coast of Maine, intending to support themselves by farming. Because this didn’t live up to their expectations, they were forced to turn to the sea, going in sailing vessels to ports all over the world as key participants in a global trading network. With the later decline of maritime commerce under sail, however, a new opportunity presented itself in the latter part of the 19th century: furnishing officers and crews for the luxury steam yachts of rich and powerful financiers and industrialists. By this time, the reputation of island mariners was such that, on presenting themselves for employment, they had merely to state that they were from Deer Isle, and they had a job.
Bill Haviland, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, is also an accomplished historian. The late Barbara Britton’s grandfather, father and uncle all “went yachting.” Their teamwork has produced a highly readable and fascinating book that is lavishly illustrated with 130 images, most historical in nature.
About the Authors
William A. Haviland is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Vermont. Although schooled in Philadelphia, his summers were always spent with his family on Deer Isle. Their neighbors there were all islanders, many of them close friends. They included three members of the all Deer Isle crews that defended the America’s Cup, as well as others who went yachting, including the captain of the yacht Hi-Esmaro. Having grown up in the midst of these mariner-farmers, Haviland has long been fascinated with the unique culture that developed on the island around these pursuits.
After coming of age, Haviland continued living summers on Deer Isle, and any other time he could get there. He and his wife now live there full time, and he has served on the Deer Isle Conservation Commission, on the board, and as President of Island Heritage Trust. Currently, he is on the boards of the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society and the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor.
Barbara L. (Greenlaw) Britton enjoyed a professional career in healthcare as Vice-president, Facilities, Support Services and Construction at Mercer Medical Center, a 365-bed hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. Born on Deer Isle, Barbara lived the first years of her life with her parents, brother and extended family in her grandmother Greenlaw’s house on Sunset Road; the family’s move to New London, Connecticut, followed in December 1935. Her father served as crew member and then deck officer aboard the yacht Cythera, from 1927 to 1942. During his career, yachting dominated the cycle of family life and connections to the island remained strong. Close friends and family members in New London were islanders who shared news from “down home,” and the weekly island newspaper kept the family in touch with larger community issues.
The Mainstay, a gift from her aunt Lillian Greenlaw when she died in 2000, brought Barbara and her husband back to Sunset as summer residents. Barbara serves as a dedicated volunteer at the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society, is treasurer of the Greenlaw Family Association and editor of the Greenlaw Newsletter, and actively pursues research germane to Island history.
Publisher: Penobscot books, a division of Penobscot Bay Press, Inc.
Printer: 360 Digital Books, a division of Whitlock Business Systems, Inc., Madison Heights, Mich.
Publish Date: 2015
Edition: First
Features: 130 images, 35 in color; most historical in nature
Dimensions: 9”x12”
Pages: 204
ISBN: 978-0-941238-19-9
LCCN: 2015942168
Genre: History; non-fiction
Price: $33.95