About Me

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After retirement, for two summers I worked as a tour guide at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in Oregon. This opportunity enabled me to learn more about that lighthouse than any of the others I've seen. Although I have personally visited and photographed over 300 lighthouses in the United States and three Provinces in Canada, the Umpqua River Lighthouse has special meaning for me. That Lighthouse inspired me to write two fictional books with the characters working, living, and enduring the challenges of lighthouse keeping. All pictures posted in this blog were taken by myself, unless noted otherwise.

Book Info.

I hope you will find time to enjoy my books. Preview the book covers below at the right side of page.

Book #1: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse." Detail: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse" is an 1860's story about the lighthouse keepers and their families at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It will stir your emotions and warm your heart. Discover the challenges they met but never expected, and their determination to maintain navigational aid to mariners on the Oregon coast. (Wickie is a nickname used by the early lighthouse keepers at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in OR.)

Book #2: "Spirit of The Lighthouse" is a sequel to The Wickie. Detail: Jesse Fayette, assistant keeper at the Umpqua River Lighthouse, finds himself alone to operate and maintain an Oregon lighthouse after the accidental death of his head keeper. After notifying the Lighthouse Board and requesting help, he is surprised but must deal with an acquaintance, Red Saunders, who believes the lighthouse is haunted.

Book #3: "Unexpected Moments" has a different theme than those of Book #1 and #2. Detail: Dan and Megan, as well as their old friends Jim and Anna, experience unexpected moments of hardships and tragedies in Arizona and California. Will they survive these unexpected moments and find any hope for their futures?

All of my books are available on Amazon.

26 July 2012

Maine - Cape Neddick Lighthouse

The Cape Neddick Lighthouse is located at York, ME. Its beginning started in 1807 with repeated requests being ignored for several decades to build a lighthouse atop "the Nubble;" a few hundred feet offshore from the eastern end of Cape Neddick. Finally, in 1874 a forty-one foot cast-iron tower was authorized by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and the light station was placed in operation in 1879.

Nubble Light, as the lighthouse is more popularly called, is a cast-iron structure lined inside with brick. After completion the tower was painted red, but since 1902 it has been painted white. The distinctive red oil house was built in 1902, and the covered walkway connecting the keeper's house and tower were added in 1911. The light station originally had a fog horn bell and bell tower. This structure was razed in 1961. An 1891 fourth-order lens was still in use at the time of my visit, although it was not the original lens installed. A bucket suspended on a line across the channel was used to transport supplies to the station. The conical tower measures thirty-nine feet from the ground level to the center of the lantern, which shows a red light eighty-eight feet above the ocean. The last keeper left here in 1987 when the light was automated.

At the time of my visit in 1997, the station was maintained by the town of York and had received more than three-hundred offers from people desiring to be live-in caretakers. Some restoration work had been done with a 1989 grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Committee.

This lighthouse and grounds are among the most appealing and photographed in the world, with an estimated 250,000 visitors annually. In 1977 NASA sent Voyager II into space with several items aboard that were designed to teach extraterrestrial civilizations about our planet. A picture of "Nubble Light" was among the images included.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Al!

Wayne