Light Hearted

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image.png]Russ Rowlett Today’s interview was first heard in episode 19 back in 2019. The conversation is with Russ Rowlett, webmaster of The Lighthouse Directory, one of the most useful lighthouse-related sites on the internet. When Russ was growing up in Richmond, Virginia, his only exposure to lighthouses was climbing the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse when his family vacationed at Virginia Beach. Russ earned a doctorate degree in math at the University of Virginia in the 1960s, and he taught math at Princeton and then the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 1987 he became Director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s also known for his research on the metric system and units of measurement. Russ started his website, The Lighthouse Directory, in 1999, and it kept growing until, by 2009, it covered the whole world. The address of the site is ibiblio.org/lighthouse/  [https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/]  At this moment there are listings for more than 24,600 of the world’s lighthouses. If there are more lighthouses out there, Russ will find them. [http://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/screen-shot-2018-11-26-at-9-18-49-am-1.png]

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/56-Author-Photo-683x1024.jpeg]Therese Woelfel Therese Woelfel, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has held leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial endeavors, and non-profit organizations. Her new book, Our Guiding Light, is her first non-fiction work. Therese’s grandfather, Charles A. Linsmeier, was a Lighthouse Service keeper at several stations on the Great Lakes from 1920 to 1953. The book tells the story of Linsmeier’s daughter Vivian, who was Therese’s mother. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Our-Guding-Light-Ebook-Web-Version-images-JPEG-2-640x1024.jpg] Here’s an excerpt from the book description: “A lighthouse doesn’t calm the storm. It simply reminds you where the shore is and says, ‘You are being cared for and watched over.’ From her parents and the other lighthouse keepers they knew, Vivian learned some of the most valuable lessons of her life: honesty and service to others. As she navigated her life, living through the Great Depression and World War II, standing up to social injustice, and raising eight children, she surrendered to the divine and allowed herself to be watched over. In turn, she was able to be a steady beacon of light and hope for those who encountered life storms.” [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1-Vivian.jpg]Vivian Linsmeier Langer [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/17-Charlie-Headkeeper.jpg]Charles Linsmeier ----------------------------------------

[https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_3709-1-1024x768.jpeg]Dan Spinella created this replica third-order lens for Buffalo Lighthouse in New York. This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared in episode 107 in February 2021. The guest is Dan Spinella, a man who is known for creating amazing replica Fresnel lenses. Dan, who is employed as an engineer at Disney World, began his Fresnel lens research and restoration work in 1992 using both acrylic and glass prisms used to restore historic lenses. Dan’s company, Artworks Florida [https://www.artworks-florida.com/], began creating full-scale reproduction Fresnel lenses in 2004. Some of his lenses are installed in lighthouses as aids to navigation and some are on exhibit in lighthouse museums across the country. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/08-Lens-Assembly011-1024x576.jpg]

This is an an edited version of a conversation that was first heard in episode 62 in May 2020. The guest is Elaine Jones and the subject is Burnt Island Light in Maine. A lighthouse was built in 1821 on five-acre Burnt Island at the west side of the entrance to Boothbay Harbor in Maine, which was a center for shipbuilding, gristmills, and fishing going back to the 1700s. In 1988, Burnt Island became one of the last Maine light stations to be automated and destaffed. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/elainejones1-1024x659.jpg]Elaine Jones painting the Burnt Island Lighthouse tower in 1998. Courtesy of Elaine Jones In 1998, as part of the Maine Lights Program, Burnt Island Light Station was transferred to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Elaine Jones was named the director of the new facility, and it was her vision to transform the island into an outstanding educational and recreational facility for Maine’s residents and its visitors. She retired in 2021 after 30 years with the Department of Marine Resources. In fact, her last day of work was the exact 200th anniversary of the first lighting of Burn Island Light on November 9, 1821. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IMG_1722adj-1024x683.jpg]Burnt Island Light Station, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

Portsmouth Harbor Light, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River in the town of New Castle, New Hampshire, is one of the most picturesque and historic lighthouses in New England. The original wooden lighthouse on the site (1771) was the first lighthouse north of Boston. The present (1878) cast-iron lighthouse stands on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor, neighboring historic Fort Constitution. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/100_5068adj2-1024x683.jpg]Portsmouth Harbor Light, NH. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and its local chapter, Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses (FPHL), have been managing the lighthouse since 2001. FPHL has given tours for tens of thousands of people over the years, but the tours have been curtailed in recent years due to storm damage. Joining host Jeremy D’Entremont, who is also a former chair of FPHL, are Michelle Jewell Shaw, current chair of FPHL; Bob Zimman, vice chair of FPHL; and Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of ALF. [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/michelle-shaw-lens-1024x768.jpg]Michelle Jewell Shaw [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/bob-zimman-683x1024.jpg]Bob Zimman [https://news.uslhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Bob-Trapani-100_4264-1024x683.jpg]Bob Trapani Jr. ----------------------------------------