A modern-day lightkeeper who is responsible for three lighthouses on remote islands in Lake Superior has to be a jack-of-all-trades. From coordinating volunteer work crews, to fixing broken water pumps, painting buildings, and acting as the chief tour guide and director of visitor programming, Paul Morralee did it all. As managing director of the lighthouse preservation organization, Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior, Paul also documented his island experiences over the course of a decade in a series of articles, “Lighthouse Dispatches”, that appeared in the Thunder Bay newspaper, The Chronicle-Journal. Those articles have now been collected together in a single volume. Follow Paul’s journey from rookie lightkeeper to seasoned veteran as he recounts the challenges in accessing the Trowbridge Island Lighthouse, the joy in planning visitor programming at the recently-acquired Shagansh Lighthouse, and the people encountered and natural wonders experienced while living for ten summers at the Point Porphyry light station. Lighthouse Dispatches: Ramblings of a Modern-Day Lightkeeper is a compelling record of the remarkable work done by Paul Morralee together with many volunteers to preserve the lighthouses and their stories, highlighting the important role played by these iconic structures in the development of the region and the history of Canada.
