From the Hamilton Spectator, January 29, 1988.
'Lighthouse nut' hoping her new book is a keeper
By John Gast, The Spectator
AUTHOR MARY Weeks-Mifflin has seen the light.
That's light, as in house.
There are books and photographs about lighthouses all over the house, pictures of lighthouses on the living room walls and in the bathroom.
"I'd kill to be a keeper in a lighthouse," said the 36-year-old enthusiast, who said the daydream was the first obsession she remembers as a child.
"My family used to vacation in Southampton on Lake Huron. I remember as a young girl looking out the window at the Chantry Island lighthouse and daydreaming about what it would be like to live there."
The fascination has never left her, she said as she leafed through the pages of research material she and co-author husband Ray have collected for their new book on the Burlington Bay lighthouse.
Ray is a schoolteacher and Mary manages a retail store, so all work on the book is done in weekends and evenings.
Net loss
Although the first book about the Chantry Island lighthouse sold out all 2,000 copies in the first six months, her 60¢ per book share of the sales left her with a net loss of more than $2,000 when she includes months of research, travel and other expenses.
But money isn't the only measure of success, she claims. "I hope I have preserved a little bit of history that will now never be destroyed. And there's the fun we've had, the people we've met and the places we've seen.
In fact, work on the book revealed that she wasn't the only "lighthouse nut" around.
"I met people who spend their entire vacations driving from one
Lighthouse to another," she said. "There seems to be a fraternity of lighthouse enthusiasts out there."
She said lighthouses are often the focal point of local histories, so those interested in history are part of her market as well.
"I didn't realize how big the market was out there until the book," she said. "I get at least 10 letters a week from people who give me information or friends I've made while working on the book.
Research
Ironically, the Canadian Coast Guard asks her for historical information about their own lighthouses and she's often hired to do articles for them. "I guess they're happy that someone is doing historical work," she said.
So happy, in fact, that she's gone along on several helicopter inspection tours of lighthouses on lakes Erie, Superior and Huron.
Research is the most fun for the couple, but it's also the hardest work and can be the most frustrating.
Information comes from local museums, national and provincial archives and personal contacts.
"We tried to track down one picture for six months," said Ray. We finally found it in the Toronto archives."
When they ordered a copy, they were mistakenly sent a picture of a cow shed in Port Hope.
"Somebody in Port Hope got a copy of the Burlington lighthouse," said Ray, 37.
The attraction to lighthouses for, Canadians is the same as the attraction Europeans have for castles, according to the couple, but they admit getting glassy-eyed stares from some people when they explain their hobby.
"They just can't understand how someone can spend all their time on something like this."
'Lighthouse nut' hoping her new book is a keeper
By John Gast, The Spectator
AUTHOR MARY Weeks-Mifflin has seen the light.
That's light, as in house.
There are books and photographs about lighthouses all over the house, pictures of lighthouses on the living room walls and in the bathroom.
"I'd kill to be a keeper in a lighthouse," said the 36-year-old enthusiast, who said the daydream was the first obsession she remembers as a child.
"My family used to vacation in Southampton on Lake Huron. I remember as a young girl looking out the window at the Chantry Island lighthouse and daydreaming about what it would be like to live there."
The fascination has never left her, she said as she leafed through the pages of research material she and co-author husband Ray have collected for their new book on the Burlington Bay lighthouse.
Ray is a schoolteacher and Mary manages a retail store, so all work on the book is done in weekends and evenings.
Net loss
Although the first book about the Chantry Island lighthouse sold out all 2,000 copies in the first six months, her 60¢ per book share of the sales left her with a net loss of more than $2,000 when she includes months of research, travel and other expenses.
But money isn't the only measure of success, she claims. "I hope I have preserved a little bit of history that will now never be destroyed. And there's the fun we've had, the people we've met and the places we've seen.
In fact, work on the book revealed that she wasn't the only "lighthouse nut" around.
"I met people who spend their entire vacations driving from one
Lighthouse to another," she said. "There seems to be a fraternity of lighthouse enthusiasts out there."
She said lighthouses are often the focal point of local histories, so those interested in history are part of her market as well.
"I didn't realize how big the market was out there until the book," she said. "I get at least 10 letters a week from people who give me information or friends I've made while working on the book.
Research
Ironically, the Canadian Coast Guard asks her for historical information about their own lighthouses and she's often hired to do articles for them. "I guess they're happy that someone is doing historical work," she said.
So happy, in fact, that she's gone along on several helicopter inspection tours of lighthouses on lakes Erie, Superior and Huron.
Research is the most fun for the couple, but it's also the hardest work and can be the most frustrating.
Information comes from local museums, national and provincial archives and personal contacts.
"We tried to track down one picture for six months," said Ray. We finally found it in the Toronto archives."
When they ordered a copy, they were mistakenly sent a picture of a cow shed in Port Hope.
"Somebody in Port Hope got a copy of the Burlington lighthouse," said Ray, 37.
The attraction to lighthouses for, Canadians is the same as the attraction Europeans have for castles, according to the couple, but they admit getting glassy-eyed stares from some people when they explain their hobby.
"They just can't understand how someone can spend all their time on something like this."