Publisher's Note

Though we live on an island, Nantucket life has been shaped for centuries by forces from afar. In the 1700s and 1800s Nantucket men sailed halfway around the world to chase their livelihood, the sperm whale. On their multi-year voyages to the Pacific, the whalers first headed east, sailing with the wind toward the Azores where they would stop to pick up supplies: fresh fruit, livestock and water before heading to the South Atlantic, and ’round Cape Horn. Sometimes they also picked up crew members, and on other occasions dropped off a Nantucketer or two. My great-great-grandmother, Mary Harris Riddell Nye, was one of those women.

The daughter of a whaler, Timothy Riddell – whose portrait is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association – “Grandma Nye” also married a whaling captain, Joseph Palmer Nye of the whaleship Alta. Shortly after they were married, she went on a whaling voyage with him, but was dropped off on the island of Faial in the Azores to give birth to their first child, a daughter. The baby was placed in a wicker basket purchased on Faial, and brought back to Nantucket on the Alta’s return trip. It is a basket that has survived through six generations of use by my family: my great-grandmother, Charlotte Coffin Nye and her sisters; my grandfather, Norman Palmer Giffin and his sister Charlotte; my father, Thomas Henry Coffin Giffin; me; my three children, and now my daughter Andrea’s children, with little Jackson Lamb, born this April, being the latest occupant of the Faial basket. The connection to the Azores lives on.

In this issue of Nantucket Today we take you to this archipelago of volcanic islands through the lens and words of Inquirer and Mirror photographer Jim Powers, who accompanied the Nantucket Historical Association on a trip to the Azores last June and got a close look at the shared heritage of the islands – mostly though whaling. There is more, however. You probably didn’t know that the bushes sporting blue pom-poms in late July and into August that grace the front lawns of many of Nantucket’s elegant homes were brought here from the Azores. Hydrangeas are as ubiquitous on those eastern Atlantic islands as they are 2,000 miles across the pond. Turn to page 28 for a long look at the captivating Azores.

Drive along the Polpis Road or out to Madaket in June and you’ll see a very different kind of flowering shrub. Scotch broom has long evergreen spikes emanating from its branches, and each spike is subsequently covered with many small, butterfly-shaped bright yellow blossoms. This wild variety provides plenty of color to the early summer landscape, but “broom” has also been domesticated for the garden and comes in other hues as well, from pink to sunset tones to garnet red. Lucy Leske tells us all about Scotch broom beginning on page 20.

The Nantucket Film Festival celebrates its 12th year this month. It is one of the festivals that is dedicated to the importance of the written word and honors screenwriters. Nantucket’s own Will Conroy showed a film, “Catalina Trust,” in one of the earlier festivals, but since then he’s turned his efforts toward screenwriting, in between running his family’s property, The Arizona Inn, in Tucson. Photojournalist Terry Pommett talked to Will this winter in his western abode. Turn to page 58 to learn more about this talented young man.

Tips on entertaining summer guests and where to eat along with a full calendar of events and other stories of island life fill this June issue, so get yourself a beach chair, sit out in the early-summer sun and enjoy!

MARIANNE R. STANTON

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

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