WORDS ON WATER

WORDS ON WATER, A Ferryman’s Journal, Washington Island, WI
by Richard Purinton: $19.95 plus $2.75 postage,
Cross+Roads Press, P.O. Box 33, Ellison bay, WI. 54210

Reviewed by Barbara Fitz Vroman*

Published by writer Norbert Blei’s CROSS+ROADS eclectic and literary press, it is a proud and elegant edition to his previous books and chapbooks, many authored by Wisconsin poets, short story writers, novelists, and essayists. In his introduction to the book, Blei reminisces about standing on the dock at Gills Rock, anticipating a trip to Washington Island more than 50 years ago, watching two small ferry boats heading there and back. He found himself wondering, Who is the ferryman in the wheelhouse? What is his life like? What’s over there anyway? How could anyone live on an island? There must be some real stories there.

When he came to know Dick Purinton, he discovered that besides being a ferry boat captain, the man was a good writer and Blei wasn’t able to rest until he got the ferryman to put his words in book form. The result is a journal Purinton kept upon Blei’s suggestion for the year 2007-- his thoughts and adventures as the captain of the fleet of Washington Island ferries, including the Arni J Richter, named for his father-in-law who had founded the business.

Not all women understand this. I don’t entirely. But for men a car or a boat can be as real a protagonist as a horse or a dog, and the Arni J Richter is definitely the protagonist of this book. For the men who sail and take care of the boat it has a soul. This is a passionate book about a man’s struggle to save his ferry from fog, wild storms that threaten to overturn it, financial disasters, and the constant legal hassles for the right to install new ramps, get dredging permits and meet all the many requirements of public and government officials who hold power over its existence.

Why does a man spend his life sailing back and forth from land to a small island? Perhaps for the very reason that for a great deal of the time it is high adventure. If the book contained nothing else than all the challenges Purinton has had to overcome to keep the Arni J. Richter in the water it would be a fascinating account. But there is more, much more.

He begins his story this way: “I live on Washington Island, off the tip of the Door Peninsula. The island is surrounded by the waters of Lake Michigan to the east and Green Bay to the west…This island seems a mystery to many, including myself some days. How people find Washington Island, or how it finds them, must be as varied as the people themselves. What moves people to live on or visit this island?” And it is “the people who live on or visit this island” that makes up “the rest of the story,” and makes Words on Water such a precious book.

The book reminds me of the endearing English TV programs like Ballkissangelor the present drama being shown on Wednesday night, Lark Rise to Candleford, during which the residents and visitors of a small community become known to us one by one, until we almost feel as if it is our own home town we are visiting.

Some of the tales are funny. Some are tragic-funny like when a coffin being taken to the main land accidentally slipped off into the drink. There is Eric Brodersen, a self taught artist who painted such a huge portrait of the Arni J. Richter, that the portrait of Arni himself had to be moved to provide room for it.

There is Bill Knuuti, a man who assisted in the training of the US cross-country skiing team for the Olympics, who took umbrage that there were five flags flying in front of the ferry office: American, Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Sweden, but no Finnish flag. When he persisted in protesting, “Why no Finish flag!”, he was told, “No Finns.” “Well I’m one,” he said. There are now six flags; and any of these stories would make a sit-com.

There are yet more riches in the book. Embedded within his journal, Purinton also gives us a tender love story of a long marriage, and some of the most charming Grandpa-grandchildren exchanges since William Saroyan wrote about himself and his children. Add to this descriptions of sea and sky that are sheer poetry. The book is also beautifully illustrated with maps and photos. This Wisconsin book goes beyond the casual read. It is an authentic account of history I feel will go on to posterity to inform new generations of the “way it was” and the “way we were”.

*NOTE: Barbara Fitz Vroman, an award-winning author, has taught writing for many years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s, Rhinelander School of Arts and at The Clearing in Door County. She is the founder and publisher of Pearl-Win Press. Her most recent work is a novel, The Experiment. Other works of hers include, Tomorrow Is a River, Sons of Thunder, Linger Not at Chebar, Small Celebrations—Summer, and Small Celebrations—Autumn.