Legendary Lighthouses

Sure, lighthouses are lovely reminders of a time before technology rendered them virtually obsolete, and their fresnel lenses are not only functional, but works of light-bending art. But how many rocky coasts and picturesque beacons can we watch? Surprisingly, the three superbly filmed documentaries in this boxed set deliver much more than most viewers might expect. Each lighthouse has its own stories, often involving dramatic rescues or deaths, and its own local champions who saved it from destruction. In North Atlantic and Maine, viewers meet artist Jamie Wyeth, who lives in a lighthouse on a Maine island. They learn that they, too, could be a lighthouse "keeper for the night" in Newport. They hear the elderly widow of a lighthouse keeper remember the first time she had to climb up the ladder to her new home. The featured lighthouses range from the old "screwpile" affairs in Chesapeake Bay to classic structures on the shifting sand dunes of Cape Cod, and then "down east" in Maine. Ultimately, along with the history and views, the documentaries convey a spirit of contemplation, solitude, and reverence for nature at that rugged conjunction of land and sea. The other two tapes in the set are Western Great Lakes and South Atlantic and California and Pacific Northwest. A companion book is also available for $24.95. Highly recommended. (M. Pendergrast)