A Lighthouse Keeper Hangs Up Her Bonnet

> .. as the only female lighthouse keeper in the Boston Light’s 307-year history.

Maybe its a Boston thing but there's been plenty of women lighthouse keepers in the rest of the US for 250 years:

https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Notable-People/...

I met Sally Snowman a few times -- we used to visit Boston Light 1-2 times every summer on MIT's sailboat with a group of students. She was super-welcoming and shared a ton of knowledge and stories about the lighthouse and station. We really enjoyed seeing the lens, etc., and thinking we were like the MIT students in the 1890s who lived out there to try to understand how sound traveled across the sea and create a better foghorn, I think not with a ton of success.

One time we arrived at Little Brewster and I was wearing a "captain's hat" that some friends had gotten me from West Marine, and the Coast Guard auxiliarists who helped us dock gave me a hard time, Boston-style. I think they don't love it when recreational sailors wear pretend rank insignia. They were smiling about it but I didn't wear the hat on later visits!

I hope she has a great retirement and they find somebody even half as dedicated to be her successor. The only reason Boston Light still has a keeper at all (the only one left in the country) is because Ted Kennedy and John Kerry sponsored an amendment to the 1989 Coast Guard Authorization Act to the effect that "The Boston Light shall be operated on a permanently manned basis." I just went back to look at it and in Ted Kennedy's remarks he says, "Thousands of visitors a year come out in Boston Harbor to visit to Boston Light. They learn about the history of the Light from the museum exhibits at its base. They climb the historic tower, and enjoy the view of the Boston skyline and the charm of Little Brewster Island. Most important, they gain a new understanding and appreciation of the important work of the Coast Guard and the role of Boston Light in our Nation's history." The part about thousands of visitors coming out I think is sadly no longer true. :-(

It's a children's book, but I bet Sally Snowman would love Hello Lighthouse [1], winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal. It's a huge hit with my kids and adults who read to them, including me.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Lighthouse

Robert Eggers' "The Lighthouse" would have appeared in a completely different light with her as the lighthouse keeper instead of William Dafoe.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/

What a wonderful calling to have had in life.

Every lighthouse I've visited in California has a small automated light attached somewhere to it which is the real navigation aid, and everything else is just a history museum now.

The last lighthouse keeper.

https://youtu.be/PgDQTKJuqwA

Boston Light can sometimes be seen from the air as you approach Logan International over Boston Harbor.

I read Botnet and first thought this was about smart light bulbs