Book Reviews of Our Books
"Books reviewed: Schooner"
Bruce Stannard, May 2011
AFLOAT
The Martha’s Vineyard boat builders, Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin, have
long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for excellence among America’s
wooden boat craftsmen. Their meticulous work in designing and building
the handsome 60ft schooner Rebecca of Vineyard Haven is the subject of a
beautiful new book that celebrates each phase of her construction in
vivid and compelling detail.
There are any number of glossy coffee table
picture books these days that dwell on the breathtaking beauty of
classic boats under sail, but it is rare indeed to come across one that
focuses entirely on the creation of a single vessel, documenting each
and every aspect of her building, from lofting to launching.
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"Must Read" Books of 2011 by Massachusetts Book Awards"
April, 28th, 2011
Massachusetts Book Awards
Follow the creation of the Rebecca, a
two-masted schooner and the largest boat to be built on Martha’s
Vineyard in decades. In text by Tom Dunlop and photos by Alison Shaw, Schooner (Vineyard Stories) introduces us to a small Massachusetts shipyard which builds boats in the traditional way.
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"Editors picks Top Ten Cookbooks"
Kay Logsdon March 14, 2011
The Food Channel
Some of the best cookbooks are tied to a memory or a story. This one
is about Martha’s Vineyard Island . . . a favorite destination of my
family. The Morning Glory Farm cookbook takes me back to a place where
priorities are straight, where people are rooted and secure, where
intelligent conversation prevails, and where good, locally grown food is
part of it all. This book gives you the recipe for Mom’s Bread and
Butter Pickles, Curried Butternut Squash Soup, and Morning Glory
Zucchini Bread.
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"14 new guidebooks to New England"
Patricia Harris and David Lyon
Boston.com
At some level, New England is hopelessly old-fashioned. No media
hucksters are rushing to film “The Real Housewives of Harpswell,
Maine.’’ The multiplexes aren’t screening “The Salem Witch Project.’’
And the National Geographic Channel isn’t banging down doors to produce
“Vermont State Troopers.’’
We New Englanders remain a literate lot and,
much of the time, we think, read, and write about New England. The icy
clutches of winter give us a fine excuse to curl up with a good book.
Here are 14 candidates for the armchair that were published in the last
year.
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"In Print : "Martha's Vineyard Tile: Hidden Gems in Island Homes"
CK Wolfson, December 8, 2010
Martha's Vineyard Times
It could well be introduced as a coffee-table photography book, or a
book about Island tile craft and the environment, Island home interiors,
or maybe a book about Vineyard style, history, and its glass and
ceramic artisans. "Martha's Vineyard Tile: Hidden Gems in Island Homes"
certainly surpasses the subject of tile, and those who at first might
respond to the subject of tile as they would to hair clips or bottle
corks should be prepared to be dazzled.
"Surprising isn't it?" publisher Jan Pogue gleefully asks. "For a
long time I didn't know how to describe it — a book about tile? I didn't
want people's eyes to glaze over."
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"In Print : "The Bike Ride:" A small book with a big lesson"
CK Wolfson, September 9, 2010
Martha's Vineyard Times
There are some conspicuously unique features about Vineyard Stories'
latest entry into children's books. "The Bike Ride" is a tender read
that nudges children toward an awareness of their environment and
encourages positive action.
It is written by Nelson Goose (no relation to Mother), the nom de
plume of an award-winning television producer (The PBS show, "Reading
Rainbow"), a summer resident of Chappaquiddick who wants to deflect any
attention from himself.
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"In Print : Island publisher and illustrator collaborate on children's story"
Sam McCoy, July 22, 2010
Martha's Vineyard Times
"Nighttide on a Vineyard Farm" is a children's story that combines
Patty Schaal's delightful prose with Margot Datz's beautiful
illustrations. This short but charming tale follows nighttime on the
Vineyard from pinkletink frogs dancing in the pond to farmyard animals
in repose, to a child's slumber above the barnyard. Though the story is
simple, captivating illustrations help to create a charming tale and
feeling of sincerity encompassing its depiction of Island nights.
This is Patty Schaal's first book. The author lives in Western
Pennsylvania but has called Martha's Vineyard her home away from home
for the past 25 years.
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"Schooner, Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard – A Review"
July, 13 2010
The Old Salt Blog
Our review:
Schooner – Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard details, in prose and photographs, the story of the design and construction of the schooner, Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, the largest wooden vessel to have been built on Martha’s Vineyard since the days of Abraham Lincoln.
At first glance, it would be easy to consider Schooner to be a “coffee table book.” In one sense, it works very well as one. The photography by Alison Shaw is stunning and the layout of the graphics and sidebar text is beautifully done. It is easy to pick up the book, flip through the pages and get lost in the vivid imagery and the succinct captions.
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"Gloss Cookbook Shelf: Morning Glory Farm"
July 6, 2010
My Gloss
If you can’t hop on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard this weekend (I’m not talking to you, Massachusetts) I’m going to introduce you to the next best thing. Morning Glory Farms and the Family that Feeds an Island by Tom Dunlop is a collection of 70 family recipes brought to you straight from the heart of Morning Glory, a family farm in Edgartown founded 1979.
There is a great benefit to utilitarian cookbooks like The Joy of Cooking that offer recipes and technique without much ado. There is also a place in the world for cookbooks that tell stories. When you finish a good piece of fiction, you feel like the characters are so real that you half expect to run into them next time you’re out (or you wish that you would).
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"Woodeboat reviews Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard"
Matthew P. Murphy, July 2010
Woodeboat Magazine
Several years ago, a Maine-based mail-order clothing catalog began offering “boatbuilder shirts” and
“boatbuilder pants.” I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the quickest way to get yourself alienated on the first day of work in a boatshop would be to have shown up proudly wearing a set of these duds.
This was manufactured authenticity, and it didn’t last long: Boatbuilder pants and shirts are gone from the company’s offerings. It’s the paint spatters, varnish stains, threadbare knees,and frayed cuffs that define a boatbuilder’s pants.
The clothes don’t make the boatbuilder; the boatbuilder makes the clothes. If you want to see a real boatbuilder shirt, look no farther than the Gannon & Benjamin (G&B) Marine Railway of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. Located on Martha’s Vineyard, this shop is an island of authenticity surrounded by a sea of consumption.
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"Review: Schooner: Building a wooden boat on Martha's Vineyard"
Linda Hedman Beyus, June 18, 2010
The Working Waterfront
I can't say that I've ever hugged a book before, but when Schooner arrived on my doorstep, I unwrapped it, took a long look, and...well, it happened.Writer Tom Dunlop and photographer Alison Shaw, both Martha's
Vineyard residents, take on the unique project of following the building
of a wooden boat from design to launch at Gannon and Benjamin Marine
Railway. Little did they know that the 60-foot schooner Rebecca
would take five and a half years to slide into the water in Vineyard
Haven-on her way to her new home port on Scotland's Isle of Wight-and
another nine years for their book to launch.
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"Schooner: Boating Dreams on Martha's Vineyard"
Rosemary Carstens, June, 14 2010
Snax On Line
Love boating? Always dreamed of building your own by hand?
The careful, skilled craftsmanship required for the task are beautifully documented in this new book from Vineyard Stories. SCHOONER: Building a wooden boat on Martha’s Vineyard written by Tom Dunlop with photographs by Alison Shaw.
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"In Print : "
J.B. Riggs Parker, May 27 2010
Martha's Vineyard Times
It is certain that sailing vessels have a soul. Powerboats may have character, but probably not a soul. "Schooner," by Alison Shaw and Tom Dunlop, reveals the spirit of Rebecca, a 60-foot schooner conceived and born in a shed in Vineyard Haven, overlooking Lagoon Pond.
This is not just a book about building a boat; not even a book about building a wooden boat, a special class in this day of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and kevlar. This is a book about honoring tradition, protecting history and enjoying every minute of the hard work it takes.
Yes, "Schooner" does explain much of the dying art of wooden boat building, and it does it well, but Alison's elegant abstracts of Rebecca's soul are the special treat.
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""Schooner" - the story of building a boat Read more: "Schooner" - the story of building a boat"
Laurie Higgins, May 15, 2010
The Cape Codder
CAPE COD —
Many authors write books without knowing for sure if they will be
published, but few go to the lengths that Martha’s Vineyard photographer
Alison Shaw and writer Tom Dunlop did for their new book, “Schooner:
Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard.” The two friends spent
years recording every stage of the construction of Rebecca, a 60-foot
wooden schooner hand built by Nat Benjamin and Ross Gannon and their
crew at Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway in Vineyard Haven.
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"Shaping the Skin of a Schooner: Anatomy of Life on the Waterfront"
Tom Dunlop
The Vineyard Gazette
I n August the reeds just beyond the open door to the Mugwump shed sway
and hiss in a warm breeze off the lagoon. Inside the building, the
shape of the hull that the skeletal framing only hinted at a month
before begins to reveal itself, plank by plank, as the crew sheathes it
from keel to deck.“I love putting on the first two or three planks,” says Ross, who comes
to Mugwump with business for Nat. “There’s nothing more rewarding than
watching the shapes develop as you’re twisting and bending them on
there.”
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"Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash"
March1, 2010
That's Not What The Recipe Says
I've been dying to make this delectable side dish ever since I saw it in the cookbook, "Morning Glory Farm and the family that feeds an island." It looked so colorful and flavorful, and it as it turned out, it was.
But first I had to find some wheat berries and that wasn't as easy as I hoped. They don't carry them at my local grocery store and we even came up empty at Trader Joe's. Finally I located some at theOrleans Whole Food Store yesterday.
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