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Alone Together: Life on an Island in Maine
Just after World War II, Arthur and Nan Kellam left a life in the secretive world of California defense contractors for the quiet of Placentia Island. They spent decades together in a small cabin, their refuge from civilization. Rarely did they have visitors and rarely did they visit. They kept a life that was both close to the land and close to each other. They chose to live a life without technology and to leave behind "the burden of abundance" for the simplicity of nature, tides, and windswept island forests.
For years after their departure, their cabin remained untouched, appearing as if they had just gone off to nearby Bass Harbor for provisions. Books, letters, and teacups remained just as they had left them, a mute testament to a great and solitary love-love of each other and of the island. It was in this condition that David Graham photographed the cabin and its revealing details over the course of three years. Nicols Fox echoes Graham's photographs with well-chosen words, providing another perspective on the Kellams's life as well as a history of their life together. The result is an intriguing and revealing look at life and love.
David Graham is well-known photographer with photographs in the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work can also be regularly seen in "the New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, "and "Fortune."
Nicols Fox is the author of" Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth about a Food Chain Gone Haywire "and "It was Probably Something You Ate. "She also writes for the "Washington Post, "the "Los Angeles Times," "Newsweek," and the "Boston Globe." She lives in Maine, a short distance from Placentia Island.
For years after their departure, their cabin remained untouched, appearing as if they had just gone off to nearby Bass Harbor for provisions. Books, letters, and teacups remained just as they had left them, a mute testament to a great and solitary love-love of each other and of the island. It was in this condition that David Graham photographed the cabin and its revealing details over the course of three years. Nicols Fox echoes Graham's photographs with well-chosen words, providing another perspective on the Kellams's life as well as a history of their life together. The result is an intriguing and revealing look at life and love.
David Graham is well-known photographer with photographs in the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work can also be regularly seen in "the New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, "and "Fortune."
Nicols Fox is the author of" Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth about a Food Chain Gone Haywire "and "It was Probably Something You Ate. "She also writes for the "Washington Post, "the "Los Angeles Times," "Newsweek," and the "Boston Globe." She lives in Maine, a short distance from Placentia Island.
48 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
About the author
Nicols Fox
8 books2 followersNicols Fox is an author and bookseller. Her book AGAINST THE MACHINE: The Hidden Luddite Tradition in Literature, Art, and Individual Lives is now out in paperback.
She is also the author of the essay found in ALONE TOGETHER, a book of David Graham's photographs of Placentia Island.
Her first book, SPOILED: Why our Food is Making us Sick and What We Can Do About It, is in a Penguin paperback edition and now out of print, as is IT WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING YOU ATE: A Practical Guide For Avoiding and Surviving Foodborne Disease.
OTHER WORKS:
Fox's articles, essays and reviews have appeared in THE ECONOMIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, LEAR'S, NEWSWEEK, THE BOSTON GLOBE, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, ART IN AMERICA, THE NEW ART EXAMINER, THE HUNGRY MIND REVIEW (now THE RUMINATOR REVIEW), WASHINGTON JOURNALISM REVIEW (now AMERICAN JOURNALISM REVIEW) WASHINGTONIAN, MAINE TIMES, DOWN EAST, and many other publications.
A graduate of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, Fox received an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College in 1999. Born in Virginia, she now lives on the coast of Maine.
She is also the author of the essay found in ALONE TOGETHER, a book of David Graham's photographs of Placentia Island.
Her first book, SPOILED: Why our Food is Making us Sick and What We Can Do About It, is in a Penguin paperback edition and now out of print, as is IT WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING YOU ATE: A Practical Guide For Avoiding and Surviving Foodborne Disease.
OTHER WORKS:
Fox's articles, essays and reviews have appeared in THE ECONOMIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, LEAR'S, NEWSWEEK, THE BOSTON GLOBE, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, ART IN AMERICA, THE NEW ART EXAMINER, THE HUNGRY MIND REVIEW (now THE RUMINATOR REVIEW), WASHINGTON JOURNALISM REVIEW (now AMERICAN JOURNALISM REVIEW) WASHINGTONIAN, MAINE TIMES, DOWN EAST, and many other publications.
A graduate of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, Fox received an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College in 1999. Born in Virginia, she now lives on the coast of Maine.
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