Join host jeremy D'Entremont and co-host Cindy Johnson at New Hampshire's Exeter Inn as they discuss the Kõpu Lighthouse on the Estonian Island of Hiiumaa, originally built in 1531. It’s the third oldest operating lighthouse in the world.
The featured interview is with Anne E. Witsenburg of Monumentsfund Aruba, the organization that manages the California Lighthouse near the northern tip of the island. The recently restored lighthouse, which is more than 100 years old, is open to the public all year.
California Lighthouse, Aruba. (Monumentsfund Aruba)
In episode five of Light Hearted, host Jeremy D'Entremont and co-host Cindy Johnson discuss the Hook Lighthouse in Ireland in the history segment. There's also the usual trivia question with prizes.
Bob Trapani, Jr., with one of the interpretive displays in the keeper's house at Owls Head.
The featured interview is with Bob Trapani, Jr. Since 2005, Bob has served as the executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in the historic keeper’s house of the Owls Head Lighthouse in Maine. Bob and Jeremy had the chance to sit down for a chat in the keeper’s house at Owls Head this past December, and the conversation ranged from the challenges of preservation to the technology of modern aids to navigation.
Chad Kaiser (New Dungeness Light Station Association)
In episode 2 of the podcast, host Jeremy D’Entremont interviews Chad Kaiser, general manager of the New Dungeness Light Station in Sequim, Washington. Chad is also a lampist (Fresnel lens expert) and preservationist, and a “part two” of this interview will be heard in a future episode.
Chad and Jeremy (why does that sound familiar?) talk about the remoteness of New Dungeness, which is at the end of a five mile sand spit, and about the “keeper” program that offers individuals, families, and groups an opportunity to spend a week at the station while performing maintenance duties and providing tours.
Jeremy and co-host Cindy Johnson tell the story of the Pharos of Alexandria, the world’s first great lighthouse, and a model for many lighthouses that followed.
Jeremy and Cindy discuss a 1971 movie, The Light at the Edge of the World, starring Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner. The film was based on a novel by Jules Verne. It’s one of the rare adventure movies ever made where a lighthouse keeper is the hero.
There’s another trivia question and a chance to win prizes.
This premiere episode with host Jeremy D’Entremont and co-host Cindy Johnson, was recorded at the Exeter Inn in Exeter, New Hampshire. In the first episode, Jeremy and Cindy talk about the origins of navigation in early society, and there's a trivia question with prizes to be sent to the first two listeners with the correct answer. Entries should be emailed to jeremy@uslhs.org, and it should be specified that the entry is answering the trivia question in Light Hearted episode 1.
Jeremy D'Entremont, historian/author and host of Light Hearted
The featured interview is with Sophie Blackall, the award winning author and illustrator of the children's book "Hello, Lighthouse." The charming book, winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal as the most distinguished American picture book of the year for children, opens with the lines, "On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. It is built to last forever."
Co-host Cindy Johnson, operations manager of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses
We hope you enjoy this new podcast. There will be new episodes every Monday, with extra episodes some weeks. Future episodes will include interviews with lighthouse preservationists, historians, and authors from around the U.S., and even from other countries.
If you have ideas for features, you can email Jeremy at jeremy@uslhs.org.
Nubble Light in York, Maine, is as pretty a lighthouse
as you’ll ever see, but it also has another tremendous advantage. Unlike so
many lighthouses that are perched in remote locations, often far offshore,
Nubble Light is easy for the average person to see. It is, however, on an island. You can drive to Sohier Park for a breathtaking view of the lighthouse—but you can’t get on the
island, even though it’s less than 200 feet away.
Some people believe that’s part of
Nubble Light’s charm. You can get tantalizingly close, but you can’t quite
touch it. In any case, this is indisputably one of the world’s best-loved
lighthouses, and an icon of the rocky Maine coast. With the possible exception
of Portland Head Light, Nubble Light has been utilized more than any other
lighthouse in art and advertising.
This new book by Jeremy D'Entremont, published by Cider Mill Press of Kennebunkport, is a treasure trove of facts, figures, and lore about this well-loved beacon. 160 pages, with hundreds of historical and recent illustrations. A must-have for lovers of Nubble Light and lighthouses in general!
For a limited time (until December 1, 2016), the calendars are on sale for only $14.39 each. Click below for more information and previews of each calendar.
