Sunday, January 10, 2010

F. Ross Holland quote on lighthouses


Here's what the late historian F. Ross Holland had to say at a ceremony held at Portland Head Light in Maine on August 7, 1989:

Americans love lighthouses. Artists and photographers find them picturesque. The dreamer finds them romantic. The boaters find them comforting. The navigator finds them helpful. The shore walker finds them peaceful. The historic preservationist feels they make a statement about a period of time. The historian is fascinated with the human and technological story they embody. And the idealist is drawn to them because they symbolize man’s humanity to man. Americans truly like and respect their historic structures, but it seems to me there’s a special place in their hearts they reserve for lighthouses.

Hard to improve on that!

2 comments:

  1. I agree, sorry to hear he is dead I have one of his books on lighthouses.

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  2. He died in 2005 of Alzheimer's disease at his home in Mason, New Hampshire.

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