links for 2006-09-08
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Blech.
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Dana A. Story
Below is the text of the obituary the Boston Globe ran for my grandfather in February 2005. I'm posting it here as it's no longer available on their website.
Dana A. Story, 85, a shipbuilder and historian, died Sunday in Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester. Mr. Story was the sixth generation of his family to build boats in Essex before he began chronicling the moribund industry. He was the author of several histories informed by experience, including "Growing Up in a Shipyard," "The Shipbuilders of Essex," and "The Building of a Wooden Ship."
"He was a superb writer who was fascinated with the shipbuilding process and equally as fascinated by the men who did the work," said Gloucester author Joseph Garland. Courtney Ellis-Peckham, archivist at the Essex Maritime Museum, said Mr. Story's work was invaluable, because most people don't know how important Essex was to the maritime industry. "Most of the ships of the Gloucester fishing fleet were built in Essex in the 18th and 19th centuries," she said. "But the industry just vanished, leaving behind no large buildings like the mills left behind after the collapse of the textile industry."
More than 4,000 wooden vessels were built in Essex from the mid-1600s until the collapse of the industry in the middle of the 20th century. Mr. Story's family was involved in the business since 1813. He grew up playing in the Story Shipyard where his father, A.D. Story, launched more than 400 vessels, including the schooners Columbia, Henry Ford, and Gertrude L. Thebaud. His father was 65 years old when he was born. Growing up, Mr. Story smelled the sawdust and the salt air, heard the buzz of the handsaws, and the thump of the hammers. He became fascinated with the craft of shipbuilding and the banter of the weathered carpenters, caulkers, and sawyers who framed the boats outdoors on the Essex River, regardless of the weather.
Even as a young man, he knew the yard's days were numbered, due to a shortage of large lumber and the advent of more modern steel and fiberglass boats. "He knew just how special it was," said his daughter, Christine Day of Ipswich. He began taking notes and photographs. Mr. Story's books tell a tale of human nature, as well as the history of an industry and a town. "He had a great advantage because he knew the lingo and the characters and he could put it together and make it jump out at you," Garland said. His daughter said he had an encyclopedic memory for colorful speech.
Mr. Story spent three years studying naval architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During World War II he was a draftsman at the W.A. Robinson Shipyard in Ipswich, where wooden landing craft, minesweepers, and tugboats were built. He also worked at the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in Chester, Pa., before moving back to Essex, where he took over the family yard in 1945, at 26. In the ensuing three years, he built and launched seven wooden draggers. After the 100-foot dragger called the Felicia was launched in 1948, the days of the wooden ship were effectively over. Mr. Story turned the shipyard into a yacht yard.
A raconteur who rambled endlessly and would break into a chantey at the smallest suggestion, Mr. Story was a familiar figure walking around Essex, with his shock of white hair tucked under a blue Essex Volunteer Fire Department baseball cap. "He could spend an hour and a half just walking to the post office, because he stopped to speak to everybody," Day said.
The shipyard that was in Mr. Story's family for more than 150 years is now the site of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. Thousands of photographs and tools he collected are the core of the museum's collection. "I don't know if we would have a museum if it wasn't for him," Ellis-Peckham said.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Story leaves his wife, Margaret (Bishop); a son, Brad of Essex; and four grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. today in Ascension Episcopal Chapel in Ipswich.
By Tom Long, Globe Staff
Necklaces are also a challenge
So. I would like to once again blame my brief absence on excessive work, a common but vexing condition often occuring in people with more than one job. I could tell you it won't happen again, but I think we both know that isn't true. We have a special relationship, you and I. The kind of relationship that withstands years of capricious neglect. What could be better?
This is the time of year that I really love living in New York. I start finding excuses to just go outside and walk around. This is both good and bad - I like being outside when it's cool and breezy and beautiful out, but I happen to work in a neighborhood that is crammed with street vendors and it's difficult for me to walk to the corner without buying another pair of earrings. You think I'm exaggerating, but I recently had to purchase another earring stand. And it isn't because I have any particular fondness for earring stands.
Other good things are happening. The tram is back in service, for one. This is beneficial for two reasons: one is that I enjoy taking the tram, and the other is that I also enjoy the subway having fewer people on it (since some of them have gone back to taking the tram).
Another good thing: I recently had to stop into Crate & Barrel for something. (An overpriced rag rug? A stainless steel kitchen accessory? It's a mystery!) What was good about this is that they already have their Halloween things in stock. Yes, Halloween! This means that soon it will be time to hang up orange lights and cook things that are pumpkin-flavored. Glee!
