Lighthouses of New England

D'Entremont, a writer and photographer for Lighthouse Digest and webmaster of New England Lighthouses (http: //lighthouse.cc), has meticulously updated this dramatic, romantic history. For lighthouse fans and lovers of New England lore, it is a must.

Edward Rowe Snow (1902-1982) was descended from a long line of sea captains. He sailed the high seas, toiled aboard oil tankers, and worked as a Hollywood extra—all before attending college. Later he worked as a teacher and coach, and as a reconnaissance photographer during World War II. His education and work prepared him well for his legendary writing career, which was part maritime history, part show business.

The Islands of Boston Harbor, his first book, was published in 1935. In all, Snow wrote nearly one hundred books and pamphlets, illustrated with many of his own photographs. He also contributed newspaper columns to the Quincy Patriot Ledger, the Boston Herald, and the Brockton Enterprise. In the 1950s his radio show "Six Bells" was heard on dozens of stations, and he made many other appearances on radio as well as on television.

Snow is fondly remembered as the "Flying Santa." For forty years he flew in small planes and helicopters over the lighthouses of New England, dropping Christmas parcels for the keepers and their families. His efforts to preserve the islands of Boston Harbor as public lands are less well known. After his death in 1982, the Boston Globe lauded his support for conservation: "There are many political leaders and environmentalists who can justly share the credit for the preservation of the harbor islands, but among them Mr. Snow will hold a special place as a link to their past and a guide to their present."

Snow married Anna-Myrle Haegg in 1932. They had one daughter, Dorothy Caroline Snow (Bicknell), two granddaughters, and one great-grandson. The young people who grew up "at his feet," reading and listening to his tales of New England maritime history, are countless.