Writer's Block

Additional Column Posts (2 - 21 of 22) Prev Page | Next Page

• Sailing Daytona Beach — on a bike

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Apr 13
  To say I’ve met some characters at the Point Judith ferry docks over the past few decades is an understatement. So, given that, you need to work ...
  

• Two unique boats, two unusual stories

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Feb 27
  E. B. White, in his Elements of Style, likens writers to hunters, “waiting to make the occasional wing shot, bringing down the bird of thought as ...
  

• Writer's Block: The fate of John Howland

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Jan 24
  Island resident Peter Greenman, along with several other island folks including Champ and Carder Starr and myself, share ancestry with John ...
  
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  Happy Thanksgiving to Frankie at Beacon Hollow Farm

  By Pippa Jack - Nov 22
  When John “Doc” Willis retired from practicing family medicine 15 years ago, he didn’t plan on turning his pastoral property on Block Island’s ...
  
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  Islands, islands everywhere!

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Oct 08
  On a sailboat race in 1970, the captain of the boat I was on said, “There’s Prudence, Patience, Hope and Despair, and that’s little Fox over ...
  

• When the beach wears thin, cupcake class beckons

  By Judy Tierney - Sep 05
  The scene could be Crescent Beach, or Mansion Beach, or even State Beach. A tan woman wearing a pink bikini is lounging on a red raft beneath a ...
  
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  Come the Fourth

  By Gloria S. Redlich - Jul 08
  No matter that often in the history of our country — as now — we find ourselves in deep political and emotional divides. No matter that we ...
  

• Writer's Block: Whale ho!

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Oct 24
  Last Friday evening at the Providence Athenaeum, author Nathaniel Philbrick spoke about his new book, “Why Read Moby-Dick?,” to an enthusiastic ...
  

• The return of the J-Boats

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Oct 04
  One of the more impressive sailing events I’ve ever witnessed happened at Castle Hill Lighthouse this past June. I happened to be going for a sail ...
  

• Sunburn blisters on a new tattoo

  By Jon Campbell - Aug 06
  When the harbor in Galilee was dredged several years ago, the most ubiquitous man-made object from the bottom was the beer can, with a high ...
  

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  Going electric with Bob Dylan in Newport

  By J.V. Houlihan - Mar 13
  Like multitudes of young guys in the early 1960s, I was in the basement bashing my guitar while listening to Bob Dylan records. The songs were ...
  
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  Catboat Jon and the wooden bucket

  By J.V. Houlihan, Jr - Feb 13
  Catboat Jon Heon first saw the Southeast Lighthouse of Block Island, while sailing aboard the schooner Mistral, in ’74. She was on a broad reach ...
  

• My name is Sailor

  By J.V. Houlihan, Jr. - Dec 06
  My name is Sailor and I’m a lucky dog. I was a companion for a man named Mully for seven years. He was not doing well. A lady came to help Mully ...
  

• Writer's Block: Recollections of Cuban Missile Crisis

  By Ray Torrey - Nov 01
  Yesterday, while catching up on the news, I was reminded that this week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It brings back ...
  
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  Writer's Block: A geodesic what?

  By J.V. Houlihan, Jr. - Sep 24
  Two weeks ago, islander Bob Fletcher came off the ferry with a bewildered look on his face, and asked me, “Houlihan, what is that?” He was ...
  
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  Introducing city students to the magic of Block Island

  By George M. Taber - Aug 07
  The Block Island Maritime Institute this summer is bringing high school students from five city schools to the island to participate in some of ...
  
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  Writer's Block: Block it, light it, shoot it

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Feb 14
  When I taught my high school theatre classes basic stagecraft — movement, vocal styling and script analysis — I would put students into groups of ...
  
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  Southern New England is my oyster

  By J. V. Houlihan, Jr. - Oct 19
  When I have time off these days, I do lots of aimless things: bike riding, sailing, and dog walking. These activities are done with no concrete ...
  
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  One of the last great ashtrays

  By Jon Campbell - Sep 01
  “I was at the grocery store, the Post Office, the Library and the Dump today,” she said, “and guess which place didn’t have cigarette butts all ...
  

• How I spent my summer vacation, foreign language version

  By Jon Campbell - Jul 16
  Some days, after a long stretch of foggy weather, when the sun comes back like a multi-alarm firestorm, visitors and residents alike find themselve...