The NEW YORK TIMES Book Review  of The Last Lobster

October 7, 2018 (p. 26)

 The Shortlist / Tales from the Sea / By Duncan Strauss

THE LAST LOBSTER
Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?
By Christopher White
240 pp. St. Martin’s, ISBN 978-1-250-08085-1
$26.99

Chris White The Las Lobster

[Christopher] White, an environmentalist and science writer, provides a guided tour of the plucky subculture of Maine lobstermen, embedding with three Stonington-based lobster captains: Frank Gotwals, his stepson Jason McDonald and Julie Eaton, one of the still-rare female skippers, as they tend their traps, hang out at home, attend local events and otherwise go about their days.

As he describes life in a small lobstering village, White also examines what could be called the Lobster Lotto. Maine lobstermen have landed colossal catches in recent years, six times those of three decades ago. (This isn’t completely good news, since it’s driven down the price of lobster.) Though a definitive explanation for these giant hauls proves elusive, marine biologists point to likely causes: the diminished number of lobster predators and climate change, which has warmed the water. But lobsters are cold-water animals, and while a slight uptick in ocean temperature has spurred their growth, further increases will likely drive them further north. It’s not out of the question that the Maine lobster industry will end up somewhere on the Canadian coast. An industry-shattering bust could be just around the corner.

 

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BOOKLIST REVIEW of The Last Lobster

The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?

Christopher White. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-08085-1

The-Last Lobster by Christopher White, book cover

After writing ‘Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen’ (2009), White traveled the Maine coast in pursuit of a quintessential lobster town to use as base for his next project, an in-depth look at the state’s most significant fishery. Settling on Stonington, he took to the water with three different lobster captains to learn how they work and gain an inside look at this boom-or-bust industry. The figures are staggering. Though fishing accounts for only five percent of the Maine economy, it brings in $616.5 million. For the past five years, the lobster harvest has been enormous, exceeding 125 million pounds. Beyond all that, there is also the tourist allure of seaside villages where the lobsters may be long gone, but the aura of lobster fishing remains. White looks at everything from unionization and battles against the price-fixing of middlemen to the warming climate and rising real-estate prices. Lobsters are intrinsically linked to the soul of Maine, and White’s thoughtful chronicle gives both the highly desired marine crustaceans and the people who seek them their due.

May 2018

 

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PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY REVIEW of The Last Lobster

The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?

Christopher White. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-08085-1
The-Last Lobster by Christopher White, book cover

Agent: Lauren McLeod, the Strothman Agency. Release date: June 2018.

In this illuminating volume, White (The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers) sets out to capture the look and feel of traditional Maine lobster villages. According to White, a climate-affected fluctuation in lobster populations may be endangering the industry and the Maine culture it supports. Early chapters introduce locals such as Frank Gotwals and Julie Eaton. The former is a 60-year-old self-taught boat captain who chose the fishing life “because his ancestors had.” On the water, he is “solitary [and] self-reliant… Sherlock Holmes without a Watson.” The latter, a boat captain and nature photographer who describes herself as “addicted to the water,” is among the few women in a male-dominated business; she says that her marriage to a fellow lobster captain has been saved by having separate boats. White talks at length with lobster boat captains, resource managers, and scientists about what caused the extreme growth of the lobster population (and the subsequent lowering of prices), how long it might last, and the industry’s future. He affectionately observes the sights and sounds on the water, the relationships between the boat captains and their “sternmen” (both male and female), the idiosyncratic techniques they use to decide where to place traps, the norms and customs of the fishery (for example, marking and returning to the water pregnant lobsters, called “eggers”), the fluctuations of bait and lobster prices, and discussions between fishers about global warming, regulations, and whether or not to unionize. White conveys the significance of lobsters to people all over the world in this enjoyable sojourn with the lobster folk.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-250-08085-1

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NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW & The Melting World

Big news this week for “The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers”! We made the NYTBR (January 12, 2014, Sunday issue)–see “Shortlist” review p. 26.
The link is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/books/review/the-climate-casino-by-william-nordhaus-and-more.html

An excerpt is:
“[A] moving story emerges. It’s a fascinating outdoor adventure, an illuminating look into the science of a melting mountain–and a fresh warning that the warming world is already here.”

–New York Times Book Review

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Montana Book Events, June 2014

Homecoming Book Event, GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA, June 26, 2014

Join author Christopher White for a special presentation on THE MELTING WORLD at Glacier National Park’s Headquarters (Community Building) in West Glacier, Montana, on Thursday, June 26, 2014, at 12 to 1 PM.

THE MELTING WORLD: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers

When author Christopher White first hiked around Glacier National Park in 1976, no one had heard of global warming. The Park boasted 37 pristine alpine glaciers. He imagined them lasting for centuries. Since then, Chris spent five years (2008-2013) exploring the fate of mountain glaciers in the Rockies and around the world. In Glacier National Park, out of those 37 only 25 glaciers remain. Forecasts suggest these last icefields will vanish in ten year’s time, with cascading impacts to wildlife and forests downstream. This intimate event with Chris features excerpts from his book, The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers, and tales of his personal journey to document the impact of America’s vanishing ice.

Christopher White is a science writer and journalist, specializing in narrative nonfiction. He has written four books, including Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen, and has written for publications ranging from The Baltimore Sun to National Geographic. Chris has a degree in biology from Princeton University and an appetite for mountaineering, with ascents on three continents. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Glacier National Park, June 2014

Presentations and Book Signings, Glacier National Park, Montana

Join author Christopher White for any of six events featuring “THE MELTING WORLD: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers” at Glacier National Park, Montana, during the week of June 21-28, 2014:

  • Lake MacDonald Lodge, West Glacier, Saturday, June 21st, 1-4 PM
  • St Mary Lodge, Eastside of Park, Monday, June 23rd, Time TBD
  • Many Glacier Hotel, Eastside of Park, Tuesday, June 24th, 1-4 PM
  •  Glacier National Park’s Headquarters (Community Building) in West Glacier on Thursday, June 26th, 12-1 PM (Author Presentation, followed by Belton Depot)
  • Glacier National Park Conservancy, Belton Depot, West Glacier, on Thursday, June 26th, 1-4 PM (Book Signing Only)
  • Montana House, Apgar Village, Saturday, June 28th, 6 PM Reception & Signing / 7PM Talk)

SPECIAL NATIONAL PARK SERVICE EVENT: “THE MELTING WORLD: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers”



Join author Christopher White for a special presentation on “The Melting World” at Glacier National Park’s Headquarters (Community Building) in West Glacier, Montana, on Thursday, June 26, 2014, at 12 to 1 PM.

When author Christopher White first hiked around Glacier National Park in 1976, no one had heard of global warming. The Park boasted 37 pristine alpine glaciers. He imagined them lasting for centuries. Since then, Chris spent five years (2008-2013) with renowned glacier expert Dan Fagre, exploring the fate of mountain glaciers in the Rockies and around the world. In Glacier National Park, out of those 37 icefields only 25 glaciers remain. Forecasts suggest these last glaciers will vanish in as little as ten year’s time, with cascading impacts to wildlife and forests downstream. This intimate event with Chris features excerpts from his book, “The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers,” and tales of his personal journey to document the impact of America’s vanishing ice.

Christopher White is a science writer and journalist, specializing in narrative nonfiction. He has written four books, including “Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen,” and has written for publications ranging from Audubon to The Baltimore Sun to National Geographic. Chris has a degree in biology from Princeton University and an appetite for mountaineering, with ascents on three continents. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“[In THE MELTING WORLD, a] moving story emerges. It’s a fascinating outdoor adventure, an illuminating look into the science of a melting mountain–and a fresh warning that the warming world is already here.”

–New York Times Book Review (1/12/14)

For more details on Christopher White, “THE MELTING WORLD,” and these events, visit www.christopherwhitebooks.com

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Announcing Lobster Book

ANNOUNCING Christopher White’s new book on the Future of Lobstering in New England

St. Martin’s Press (MacMillan) has acquired the rights to Christopher White’s fifth book about the impact of ocean warming on the fisheries and culture of coastal Maine. The Gulf of Maine is warming at a faster rate than most ocean waters around the world. The fallout is beginning to mount. The Chesapeake blue crab and other southern marine species are now colonizing waters north of Cape Cod. Local Maine fisheries are also shifting north–lobsters by nearly 50 miles. Lobsters are multiplying but the dockside price has drastically dropped. And the forecast is poor: Lobster larvae number less than 50 percent of their levels from 2007. What if the entire population crashed? What if it continued to boom? Lobsters define the coast of Maine; tourism and the economy depend upon them. As we will see aboard their boats, lobstermen are trying to adapt but there are no precedents or blueprints for the rapidly changing times.

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Reader Rediscovers SKIPJACK

Dear Christopher,

I just finished your book Skipjack and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it.

My son’s name is Tilghman (same family as island’s Mathew) and he chose Tilghman’s Island as the destination of his 13th birthday trip. We rented a little house across from the boatyard on Chicken Point Road. Our first night there I was scanning the well stocked book shelves and your book caught my eye. I started reading it that night and was hooked! We walked down to Dogwood Harbor the next morning and talked to some local folks who gave us the scoop. They said that there were 3 skipjacks operating out of DH and that the Rebecca T Ruarke and Cap’n Wadey were among them!! I really had this overwhelming feeling of history and place and the importance of little places like Tilghman that I just had to see the boats. We found out that they would be unloading at Harrison’s in Knapp’s narrows around 7 but a late dinner prevented us from meeting the boats when they came in. We drove down to the Harbor around 10 to find two of the skipjacks tied up, the 3rd skippered by lil Wade was tied up in Knapp’s. I was bummed that we had missed them but determined that we would catch them the next night. After an early dinner we walked down to Harrison’s and asked around about the skipjacks and found out that they were on their way in. After about an hour we spotted the Rebecca coming down the narrows with lil wade at the bow and Cap’n Wadey at the helm. We got to watch the crew unload 80 bushels of oysters while Cap’n Wadey tallied the count on the roof of the cabin all the while making small talk with me and my 15 year old daughter. Once the oysters were unloaded he invited us to come along around the point to Dogwood Harbor. It was a gorgeous calm evening with a glorious sunset and we chatted about the bay, the book and Tilghman’s. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to read your book and glean an understanding about the extraordinary way of life of a Tilghman’s Island waterman.
Thank you,
Laura Carter

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Global Warming Express (for Kids)

Marina and Joanna

The Global Warming Express is a climate change advocacy organization created by kids for kids. It was founded by two nine-year-old girls in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Marina Weber and Joanna Whysner, after they learned about climate change and endangered species in third grade. They decided to write a book to send to President Obama to impress upon him the urgency of climate change. They are now in sixth grade at Desert Academy in Santa Fe.

What We Do

The Global Warming Express began as an after-school mentorship program in the Fall of 2013 with a group of nine- to eleven-year-old students at Acequia Madre Elementary School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One year later, this for kids/by kids movement has won a prestigious award, has had a day named after it, and has been asked to sit on Mayor Javier Gonzales’ ground-breaking Climate Action Task Force. And this year we have expanded into five public schools, both elementary and middle, and one private school in Santa Fe, as well as schools in Albuquerque, Mexico, and even the United Kingdom. In Santa Fe, the initial expansion of the GWE was as part of the 21st Century program, which serves such schools as Cesar Chavez Elementary, Ramirez Thomas Elementary, and DeVargas Middle School. In January of 2015 the GWE looks forward to expanding its reach into many more schools, currently on a waiting list.

The GWE after-school curriculum is as diverse as its student body. Climate science and general science form the backbone of the mentorship material, supplemented by mathematics, geography, history, civics, public speaking and performance skills, and sustainability training. The students bring their own concerns to the material, and learn how to advocate for themselves and design solutions. They write and deliver three kinds of speeches: elevator speeches, city council speeches, and legislature speeches. They also sing and dance, performing their own songs about global warming and sustainable resources.

Each group of GWEers decides which Big and Small Goals they would like to achieve in the school year, or beyond — goals that will help their school, homes, and city function more sustainably. From time to time during the school year, the groups will come together for field trips, such a visiting the Santa Fe Community College’s Sustainable Technologies Center (BioFuel Program), participating in City Council Meetings, and attending New Mexico Legislative Assemblies. With further expansion we will be training students from the Santa Fe High School Institute for Sustainability and from the Santa Fe Community College to be GWE mentors.

The GWEers are coming to realize that the world they are growing into is filled with profound challenges that demand creative solutions. Already they are finding that grownups are listening to them, and encouraging them to become engaged citizens in their communities. What better gift can a mentor give a child than the gift of education and the belief in the power of her or his own voice?

For more info, contact: www.theglobalwarmingexpress.org

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