Light Hearted

Jonathon Gaare, executive director of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society in New York, last joined us in December 2024. In this episode, Jonathon updates us on preservation projects at the lighthouse, the exciting events lined up for Fire Island Light Station’s 200th anniversary this year, and some exciting historical finds.

The current lighthouse at Fire Island, built in 1858, is a 168-foot brick tower. Visitors get to climb the tower for an amazing view, and there’s a museum in the keeper’s house. Another big draw i...

Bill Merlin had a 34-year career in the Coast Guard. After graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in 1956, he served on Coast Guard cutters in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Caribbean. He eventually served as the Twelfth District Chief of Operations and Chief of Staff in San Francisco. That’s where he met Wayne Wheeler, founder of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Bill was instumental in the early days of the Society.

He retired in 1990 as a rear admiral. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to...

This is the audio from a live stream on April 23, 2026. The video version can be seen on YouTube.

Therese Woelfel’s grandfather, Charles A. Linsmeier, was a Lighthouse Service keeper at several stations on the Great Lakes from 1920 to 1953. Therese’s book “Our Guiding Light” tells the story of Linsmeier’s daughter Vivian, who was Therese’s mother. It also tells the story of how Vivian became a “steady beacon of light and hope for those who encountered life storms.” Therese also discusses her personal spiritual journey that led to the writing of her book.

Joy and Patrick Tubby, who live in England, have both been passionate about lighthouses for a long time. In fact, they were engaged and married at lighthouses. Joy wrote the first edition of her book Lighthouse Accommodation Britain and Worldwide back in 1999, and the book has been updated several times.

Joy is an active volunteer and Trust secretary for the Happisburgh Lighthouse, the UK’s only privately operated working lighthouse. She is also an active volunteer for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK. And she also manages an extensive website at lighthouseaccommodation.co.uk.

In 1988, Burnt Island Light in Boothbay Harbor became one of the last Maine light stations to be automated and destaffed. In February 1998, the station was transferred to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Keepers of Burnt Island Light (KBIL) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 2009. Its mission is to support the restoration, preservation and maintenance of Burnt Island and its historic buildings and nature trails.

Our guest, Mary Jo Marquis, works in administration for the marine sciences bureau of the DMR and is also the vice president of...

Rick St. Pierre

Rick St. Pierre, originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, had a 20 year career in the Coast Guard that included some time as the officer in charge at Boon Island Light Station in Maine. He was the officer in charge 1973 to 1975. In this interview, he remembers the daily duties on the island as well as the station’s resident ghost.

Rick’s years in the Coast Guard also included 3 ½ years on the cutter Eagle, on a...

This is the audio from the live streaming podcast episode of March 26. The complete video can be seen on the USLHS YouTube channel. Joining host Jeremy D’Entremont is co-host Sarah MacHugh, along with producer Ralph Krugler.

Boston businessman Dave Waller, founder of a special effects company, bought Graves Lighthouse at auction in 2013. Graves is a 113-foot granite tower built in 1905, on a barren ledge in outer Boston Harbor. Since purchasing the property, Dave has carried out an incredible restoration. He’s also built and in...

Point Vicente Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. With increasing maritime traffic into the harbor of Los Angeles, a lighthouse was built on a high bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes in 1926. The light station buildings were built in the Spanish revival style that’s prevalent in the area. The 67-foot concrete tower originally held a third-order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at an interpretive center a short distance away. The light was automated and destaffed in the early 1970s. The lighthouse tower and other light stat...

Currituck Beach Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

This is an edited version of an interview that was first heard in August 2021. Our guest is Meghan Agresto, manager of the Currituck Beach Light Station  in Corolla, North Carolina.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse—the northernmost of six light stations on the Outer Banks—began service on December 1, 1875.  It was the last of the tall brick lighthouses built on the Outer Banks. The 162-foot-tall tower has an unpainted red brick exterior. After automation in 1937, the site fell into disrepair until the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists renovated the station’s buildings and opened...

Old Baldy Lighthouse, USLHS photo by J. Candace Clifford

There’s been a lighthouse standing on Bald Head Island at the entrance to the Cape Fear River in the southeast corner of North Carolina for more than two centuries. The original lighthouse began service in 1795 and was the first lighthouse in the state. The Old Baldy Lighthouse that stands today—officially known as Bald Head Island Lighthouse—was built in 1817. The 110-foot tower is constructed of soft red bricks and covered with stucco.

Today, after taking the ferry from the mainland, visitors can climb the lighthouse for a view...

This episode consists of audio from the first live streaming edition of our podcast, broadcast live on YouTube on February 26, 2026. The complete video of the live stream can be seen on our YouTube channel. The guests are Colby Thomas and Billy Simmons, who are historic interpreters at Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia – the first lighthouse commissioned by the federal government.

There are two lighthouses at Cape Henry, marking the south side of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The older of the two lighthouses was built in 1792, and...

Knotbrook Taylor

Knotbrook Taylor is originally from England and now lives in Scotland. He has been writing poetry for more than 25 years. His first published collection of poetry, Beatitudes, was launched in 2007 by Blue Salt Publishing. In 2014 he won the Erbacce prize for his collection Ping-Pong in the Rain. Erbacce is a publisher that holds an annual worldwide poetry contest.

The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses commissioned Taylor to write a book of Scottish lighthouse poems. It was published in 2010 and he was also the poet in residence for a time at the museum.

Here is a...

Bar Harbor Whale Watch’s lighthouse cruise on September 5 will be aboard the Friendship V.

This episode focuses on two very special experiences available to lighthouse lovers and lovers of the rocky coast of Maine. The first segment highlights an all-day “Mid-Coast & Monhegan Island 19 Lighthouse Cruise” with Bar Harbor Whale Watch this coming September 5. Interviewed in the segment are Julie Taylor, lead naturalist for Bar Harbor Whale Watch; Zack Klyver, marine mammal scientist, educator, and conservationist; and Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation. Together with U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont and photographer Mike Leo...

Helena, founder of Thoughts with H

In this episode, we explore the power of positivity, reframing life’s inconveniences, building community, and how small reminders of encouragement can create a butterfly effect of gratitude. Sarah is joined by Helena, Licensed Mental Health Clinician and Founder of Thoughts with H, which is a daily inspiration platform rooted in mindfulness, connection, and showing up with purpose.

Tune in for an uplifting conversation about how small actions can create meaningful impact.

Notes: For information on Andy Smeaton, who is discussed in this episode:

Bob Napolitano is from Everett, Massachusetts, and now lives in Londonderry, New Hampshire. “The Lighthouse Keeper,” which was published last year, is his seventh book. The main character, John Russell, takes a job as the keeper of the Willamette River Lighthouse in Oregon at the age of 27 in 1923. He sees the lighthouse as a place to heal from unfortunate decisions he’s made in his life, but he eventually wonders if it’s more of a prison than a sanctuary. Shanghaied sailors, brothel barges, opium and bootleg liquor, and floating bodies all play a part in the story.

In this episode we revisit an interview that was first heard in 2021. Our guest is Jen Lewis, Fundraising and Outreach Manager for the Point Cabrillo Light Station in northern California.

Point Cabrillo is about midway between San Francisco and the border with Oregon. In 1908 a combined lighthouse and fog signal building was built of local redwood and Douglas fir. Today Point Cabrillo Light Station is a California State Historic Park, and the nonprofit Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association manages and interprets the site.

Jen Le...

There are two guests in this episode. The first, Bjorn Karlstrom, splits his time between Florida in the and the beautiful island of Gotland in Sweden. After developing a substantial lighthouse-related library, he decided to start a website that might be useful to others looking for information. His site Lighthouse Reading, at lhreading.com, now has listings for more than 3,800 lighthouse publications.

Massachusetts native Kevin Arsenault was a police officer for about 30 years and now serves as constable in the town of Gardner. He joined the Coast Guard at 19 years old in 1976 and was assigned to Matinicus...

Pater Noster Lighthouse

Pater Noster is a small archipelago off the west coast of Sweden. The island group’s name, which means “The Lord’s Prayer,” is said to come from the tradition that mariners would recite the Lord’s Prayer as they negotiated their way around the dangerous reefs in the vicinity. The 105-foot-tall, red, cast-iron lighthouse was constructed in 1868.

A complete restoration of the lighthouse began in 2002. Since 2020, the location has been operated as a small hotel. The facilities include rooms with a sea view, a restaurant, and three boathouses for dinner and confer...

Fairport Harbor Light Station, photo by. Jeremy D’Entremont.

Fairport Harbor, on the south side of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Grand River, is considered part of the Cleveland, Ohio, metropolitan area. The first lighthouse in the harbor was a 56-foot brick tower built in 1825. The lighthouse that stands today is a 60-foot stone tower that began service in 1871. After a new lighthouse was built on a breakwater in the harbor in 1925, the government planned to destroy the old lighthouse. A number of organizations in the area objected, and the lighthouse was spared. In 1945, the Fairport Harbor Hi...

In the first episode of Be the Light, host Sarah MacHugh sits down with Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, Executive Director of Presque Isle Light Station in Pennsylvania, for a powerful conversation about what it truly means to serve a community with heart. Averie shares how she and her dedicated team of volunteers work to remove barriers and create access for their surrounding community, transforming their light station into a beacon of connection, inclusion, and hope. 

Sarah MacHugh at Fort Point Lighthouse in Maine

In the first episode of Be the Light, host Sarah MacHugh sits down with Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, Executive Director of Presque Isle Light Station in Pennsylvania, for a powerful conversation about what it truly means to serve a community with heart. Averie shares how she and her dedicated team of volunteers work to remove barriers and create access for their surrounding community, transforming their light station into a beacon of connection, inclusion, and hope. Together, they dive deep into community building, the importance of valuing every individual team member, and why leading w...

Nantucket Lightship LV-112. By Arnold Reinhold, Creative Commons license.

Today we look back at an interview that was first heard in October 2020. Our guest is Bob Mannino, founder and president of the United States Lightship Museum. The USLM is the steward of the Nantucket Lightship LV-112, the largest lightship ever built in the United States.

The Nantucket South Shoals were a great hazard to shipping, and a lightship was first stationed at the Shoals in 1854. The last vessel to serve there was the LV-112, built in 1936. Its position was 50 miles southeast of Nantucket Island and 100...

The 1846 and 1902 lighthouses on Ile Vierge. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Ile Vierge is a 15-acre island off the northwest coast of Brittany in northwest France. The first lighthouse on the island was a 108-foot-tall square tower that began service in 1845. It was considered too short, and a new tower was built between 1896 and 1902. The new lighthouse tower is built of granite blocks and stands 271 feet tall, with nearly 400 steps inside. It’s considered the tallest traditional-style lighthouse in the world.

The island and the 1902 lighthouse are open to the public on special tour...

In this episode we revisit a conversation from June 2022 with Mike Vogel, who at that time was the president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Mike Vogel retired as editorial page editor of The Buffalo News in 2011, after a 43-year journalism career. He was the organizer and founding president of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association, which carried out the restoration of Buffalo, New York’s historic 1833 lighthouse. He has served as president of the organization for well over two decades.

Mike has also played an important role in t...

Jim Lammers, who lives in Minnesota, was educated as an architect back when freehand sketching was an integral part of the curriculum. His writing and sketching has been published in a number of professional journals and on websites. His most recent book is “Lighthouses of the Great Lakes: An Architect’s Sketchbook.”

The illustrations in Jim’s book are not precise architectural renderings. The depictions are roughly accurate in their dimensions and details, but they also have a very personal, slightly whimsical quality. The sketches are Jim’s way of interpreting these scenes and communicating the experience to us.

Lee Radzak

Split Rock Lighthouse, on a 127-foot-high cliff on the northwest shore of Lake Superior, began service in 1910. The light station is now the centerpiece of 2200-acre Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. Lee Radzak became the lighthouse site manager in November 1982. Over the next 36 years, he and his wife Jane raised a son and a daughter, marveled at the lake’s beauty, endured gigantic storms, and answered the questions posed by more than four million visitors.

Ashtabula, Ohio, is a community of about 18,000 people at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie. In the late 1800s the city was a major port for the shipping of coal and iron ore. The first lighthouse in Ashtabula Harbor was a small wooden tower built in 1836. When the channel into the harbor was widened and a breakwater was constructed in 1905, a new lighthouse was built at the end of the breakwater: the square two-story dwelling with a short tower on its roof that still stands today.

The li...

Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont with Annamaria Mariotti in 2010 at Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse in Maine

This is an edited version of an interview from September 2020. The guest is Annamaria Mariotti, an author and lighthouse historian in Italy. Lilla, as she’s known to friends, is the author of many books, articles, and stories related to the sea. Many of her articles have appeared in The Keeper’s Log, Lighthouse Digest, Coast Guard News, the New York Times, and many more.

Her lighthouse-related books include Tales of lighthouses and oth...

Dunkirk, New York, is on the south shore of Lake Erie, about 35 miles southwest of Buffalo. Dunkirk, with its natural harbor, got one of the earliest lighthouses on the lake. The first lighthouse at Point Gratiot in Dunkirk began service in 1827. The lighthouse that stands today was completed in 1876. The 61-foot square limestone tower stands next to a brick gothic revival keeper’s house. The light was automated and the last Coast Guard keepers were removed in 1962.

A group of local citizens leased the property from the Coas...

Josh Liller inside the lens at Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 16 back in 2019. The guest is Josh Liller, Historian and Collections Manager for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. Josh is also historian for the  Florida Lighthouse Association.

Josh specializes in lighthouse and military history. He’s also a tour guide, lecturer, and author. He’s the co-author of Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee, and editor of the second edition of The Florida Lighthouse Trail.<

Lorain, Ohio, on the south shore of Lake Erie, is known for its history as an industrial hub, and it’s also been an important point for the shipping of materials like coal, iron ore, and limestone. Lorain West Breakwater Lighthouse, also known simply as Lorain Lighthouse, began service in 1919,. The building consists of a square tower rising from the corner of a two-and-one-half story keeper’s house.

After it was decommissioned in 1966, the Coast Guard was planning to demolish the lighthouse. Local preservationists were able to lease the st...

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in May 2021. Dianna Stampfler has written countless articles for many Michigan travel and culture periodicals. In August 2004, she launched Promote Michigan to help market the people, places, and products of her home state. Dianna has also been researching Michigan’s lighthouses for many years. In 2019, she published her book Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses through the History Press.

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings. In 2022, Dianna publis...

Don Ladolcetta

Don Ladolcetta’s new book, Hannah: The Lighthouse Girl of Newfoundland, tells the story of a young girl who doesn’t know what to expect when her family moves to an isolated lighthouse on the rugged Newfoundland coast. What she discovers is a life filled with adventure, wonder—and danger. SARAH Facing everything from the fury of Mother Nature to illness, the Great Depression, and World War II, Hannah must find the strength to follow her dreams. When a stunning loss upends her world, Hannah decides to take a bold step along a new path.

In the...

Russ Rowlett

Today’s interview was first heard in episode 19 back in 2019. The conversation is with Russ Rowlett, webmaster of The Lighthouse Directory, one of the most useful lighthouse-related sites on the internet. When Russ was growing up in Richmond, Virginia, his only exposure to lighthouses was climbing the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse when his family vacationed at Virginia Beach.

Russ earned a doctorate degree in math at the University of Virginia in the 1960s, and he taught math at Princeton and then the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 1987 he became Director of the Center for Ma...

Therese Woelfel

Therese Woelfel, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has held leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial endeavors, and non-profit organizations. Her new book, Our Guiding Light, is her first non-fiction work. Therese’s grandfather, Charles A. Linsmeier, was a Lighthouse Service keeper at several stations on the Great Lakes from 1920 to 1953. The book tells the story of Linsmeier’s daughter Vivian, who was Therese’s mother.

Here’s an excerpt from the book description: “A lighthouse doesn’t calm the storm. It simply reminds you where the shore is and says, ‘You are being cared for and watche...

Dan Spinella created this replica third-order lens for Buffalo Lighthouse in New York.

This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared in episode 107 in February 2021. The guest is Dan Spinella, a man who is known for creating amazing replica Fresnel lenses. Dan, who is employed as an engineer at Disney World, began his Fresnel lens research and restoration work in 1992 using both acrylic and glass prisms used to restore historic lenses. Dan’s company, Artworks Florida, began creating full-scale reproduction Fresnel lenses in 2004. Some of his lenses are installed in lighthouses as aids to navigation and so...

This is an an edited version of a conversation that was first heard in episode 62 in May 2020. The guest is Elaine Jones and the subject is Burnt Island Light in Maine. A lighthouse was built in 1821 on five-acre Burnt Island at the west side of the entrance to Boothbay Harbor in Maine, which was a center for shipbuilding, gristmills, and fishing going back to the 1700s. In 1988, Burnt Island became one of the last Maine light stations to be automated and destaffed.

In 1998, as p...

Portsmouth Harbor Light, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River in the town of New Castle, New Hampshire, is one of the most picturesque and historic lighthouses in New England. The original wooden lighthouse on the site (1771) was the first lighthouse north of Boston. The present (1878) cast-iron lighthouse stands on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor, neighboring historic Fort Constitution.

The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and its local chapter, Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses (FPHL), have been managing the lighthouse since 2001. FPHL has given tours for te...

The first lighthouse on Curtis island at the entrance to Camden, Maine, was established in 1836. For many years, the island served as a signal station for the large steamships that passed by. The 25-foot brick lighthouse tower that still stands was built in 1896, and the light was automated in 1972.

The Town of Camden now owns the island and the lighthouse. In 2023, the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation was established with a mission to historically restore the light station and to develop a perpetual preservation fund in partnership wi...

This is a look back at an interview that was first heard in episode 122 back in May 2021. The interview is with Elena Hansteensen, who is the owner of Littleisland Lighthouse in Norway, which is operated as a small hotel.

Litløy fyr, or Littleisland Lighthouse in English, is on a small island off the northwest coast of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. It was first lit in October 1912. For a time, it was the second most powerful lighthouse in Norway. In 2006, the light station was bought by Elena Ha...