Virginia Oliver is a truly memorable person. Young readers can meet her in Alexandra D. Heinrichs' The Lobster Lady.
In coastal Maine harvesting lobsters for a living is a multi generational tradition for many families. It isn't easy, safe, or predictable. But those who accept the challenges and solitude on the sea wouldn't want any other vocation.
That's how it was for Virginia. She was born in 1920 at her grandparents' house in Rockland. As a young child she became able to participate, hauling lobsters with her older brother. Can you believe she could solo pilot a boat on the Atlantic Ocean when she was only eight? And that was back when lobster harvesting was for the most part males only.
She married at seventeen and raised four children. She worked other jobs. But when the call of the sea became too strong to ignore she joined her husband on his lobster 🦞 boat. At 102 she was lobstering with her son with no intention of retiring.
It's a lively, intriguing narrative in its own right. But I see a very strong science connection. Climate change and related environmental damage and overfishing are making 🦞 harvesting an increasingly precarious profession. For kids in coastal states who want to learn more it can make what for too many of us is an an abstraction--nothing to do with me--a clear and tangible reality that they can help fight.
Virginia is a real inspiration to me. I'll try my best to still be helping my beloved undergraduates survive and thrive and know that their lives have meaning when I'm 102.
On a purrrsonal note, I owe my readers an apology for not posting for three days. I wasn't being lazy. I had a problem with my smartphone that was beyond my expertise level so I had to wait to see my best friend, Lisa Morin, for tech help. It took her about ten minutes.
I hope you had a good weekend. I did despite my lack of electronic access. Eugene was up at camp where he did some 🧊 fishing 🎣. I was very happy to stay home with precious Tobago. Although I love to go to camp in warm weather, in winter weather I become much too fond of indoor plumbing.
A great big shout out goes out to my best friend Lisa Morin who has bailed me out of plenty of tech crises and has been a really good friend for 16 years.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cel⁵lular© Smartphone
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