Tag Archives: Poet
Jack Merrill, poet, painter… and lobsterman
If one were to attend a recent Mount Desert Island school sporting event, then attend an art exhibit reception at the Northeast Harbor Library and buy some lobster for dinner right off the fisherman’s boat, they might be convinced that the coach at that game, the painter and the lobsterman were all a part of a set of triplets. And when an identical guy showed up at a poetry read to recite his own works, you might up the ante and think you’d had a close encounter with a rare brace of quadruplets. But no, Jack Merrill, lobsterman, coach, artist and poet is just one man; albeit a man with a multitude of talents and interests that, at age 70-something, still keep him busy on a daily basis. Perhaps there is something about watching a lavender-rose sunrise and a blazing gold and scarlet sunset spread over a mackerel sky and a wine dark sea almost every workday that inspires some of our local fisherman to paint and poeticize, because, as Merrill rightly insists, he is not unique. He points out that several Cranberry Isles fishermen are also accomplished artists, including Rick and Corey Alley and Dan Fernald and, of course, island author and fisherman Trevor Corson, who included Merrill in his book, “The Secret Life of Lobsters.” more, >>click to read<< 07:08
Commercial Fishing Pioneer And Poet David Krusa Dies At 75
Montauk resident David Krusa, a commercial fisherman and one of the pioneers of the local tilefish fishery, died this past week. He was 75. Mr. Krusa and his longtime fishing partner, John Nolan, were the first captains in Montauk and among the first on the East Coast to exclusively target tilefish, a golden-skinned species that inhabits the ocean bottom near the edge of the continental shelf and now supports a multimillion-dollar industry. After a battle with lymphoma in the 1990s forced him to give up his career on the water, Mr. Krusa turned to woodworking and writing poetry and short stories to exercise his boundless mental and physical energy. His works were featured frequently in the East Hampton Star and also in the anthology “On Montauk.” Mr. Krusa died of heart failure on January 4, his family said. In addition to his wife, Mr. Krusa is survived by two sons, Kip, of Tennessee, and Lee, of California, a daughter, Margaret McKinnon, of Texas, and a brother, Christopher, of Illinois.Read the story here 08:36
