Water is Life

I was on Martha's Vineyard over the weekend and through the bookstore in Vineyard Haven, Bunch of Grapes, heard about an event happening at the historic Edgartown Old Whaling Church on Sunday evening. The title of the program was "Water is Life" and on the program, which featured poetry by Fan Ogilvie and Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, were Susan Straight from National Geographic and Irena Salina, documentary filmmaker. The film Flow: For Love of Water evolved into a book published by National Geographic and edited by Irena Salina, entitled Written in Water. The book is a collection of "simple, powerful, direct stories of passionate people and their involvement with water." Contributors include Frank Clifford, Marion Stoddart, Bill McKibben, William "Waterway" Marks, Lynne Cherry, Alex Matthiessen and Alexandra Cousteau. Alexandra, granddaughter of Jacques and founder of Blue Legacy (http://www.alexandracousteau.org/blue-legacy-overview), was there Sunday night having just come from the Gulf and the scene of the horrific oil "spill" (euphemism for exploding geyser). She delivered a sobering assessment of the state of things water-wise. Coincidentally, as she spoke, Boston and environs were under a boil water order and the Gulf is being despoiled. In June, Alexandra will begin a 4-month tour of major bodies of water in North America. She will write about her experiences through blogs and other internet sources throughout the summer. Her stories should be accessible through the Blue Legacy website.