Anthropologist and writer William Haviland will share from his book, The Way Things Were: Deer Isle in the Steamboat Era, at the Blue Hill Public Library on Thursday, September 20th at 7:00 PM. The book features stories and essays by Bill’s father, Thomas P. Haviland, and was edited by Bill, along with Carroll M. Haskell.
From the 1840s until 1942, Deer Isle relied on steamboats for access to other parts of the state. During this era, the island was a place of small family farms with a strong seafaring tradition. In the last four decades of this time, Tom Haviland was part of this island life. In his final years, Tom penned a series of short stories and essays based on his early experiences and characters he had known. Through them, we get a view of what island life was like in these bygone days.
Bill Haviland is a professor emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology. He has done archaeological work in Belize, Guatemala, South Dakota, and Vermont, as well as ethnographic and ethnohistorical research in Maine and Vermont. His one hundred or so publications include several books, including Canoe Indians of Down East Maine and Floating Palaces, America’s Queens of the Sea: Maine Island Mariners and the Big Steam Yachts (co-authored with Barbara L. Britton).
Bill and his wife Anita live on Deer Isle. He serves on the boards of the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society and the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor. This event is sponsored by the library. Books will be available for sale and signing. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.
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