It is hard to believe that just three little words, Isles of Shoals, can evoke as much romanticism as they do. Yet when those words are spoken, remembrances of years long past—of one of New England's earliest and most prosperous fishing communities; of Celia Thaxter and her life well spent surrounded by beautiful flowers, fine art, andhigh-society friends; of "Uncle Oscar" Laighton and his ancient but unfailing smile; and of the Victorian grandeur of the expansive Oceanic and Appledore Hotels—bring one back to the glory days ofthe Isles of Shoals.
Donald Cann is a member of Star Island Corporation and a park ranger for the National Park Service working in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area. John Galluzzo leads public programming for Mass Audubon and has authored more than 20 books on coastal American history. Gayle Kadlik is the former curator of the Vaughn Cottage Museum on Star Island and a descendant of John Downs, author of Sprays of Salt: Reminiscences of a Native Shoaler.