The Keeper of Lime Rock: The Remarkable True Story of Ida Lewis, America's First Official Female Lighthouse Keeper and the First Woman to Win a

by Lenore Skomal

Book Overview

It wasn't until her fifth daring rescue at sea in 1869 that the world discovered the remarkable Ida Lewis, tender of the Lime Rock lighthouse off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island. Hailed for her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762413093
• ISBN13: 9780762413096
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Keeper of Lime Rock

I have to say that more in depth information would have been good.The only reason I say this is because I am the great, great, great grand-daughter of Ida Lewis and I have Just recently found this out, I think more about the family and life of Ida Like when she use to pull the plank so that my grandmother could not get to the light house, because Ida wanted to be alone. We have the certificates that were presented to my grandmother from the president of the united states, after her death. So much was missed for a bioagraphy.

Woman and the Sea

This lovely book, a story of a brave woman and the sea, is so well-written. It is obvious that it was a labor of love for its author. In less than 150 pages, Lenore Skomal manages to convey the spirit of Ida lewis and the times in which she lived. Despite the scarcity of primary sources such as journals, personal letters, or any other correspondence, the book is well- documented by the author. She has painstakingly put together this book, complete with some wonderful vintage photos.Ida Lewis was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1842. Her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, was a coastal pilot who in 1853 became the first keeper of Lime Rock Lighthouse on a tiny island in Newport Harbor. After years of back-and-forth travel, a house was finally built on Lime Rock for Lewis and his family, but they had lived in the house for just a few months when a stroke disabled him. Ida, 16, already having assumed a heavy burden of household duties, now began to take care of the light--she filled the lamp with oil at sundown and again at midnight, trimmed the wick, polished the carbon off the reflectors, and put out the light at dawn.Ida and her mother tended the Lime Rock Light from 1857 until 1872, when her father died. Her mother was appointed lighthouse keeper and remained in this position until she died in 1879, even though Ida continued to do the work. In 1879, Ida was officially appointed to the keeper's job with a salary of $750 a year and she remained in this job until her death.During her 39 years on Lime Rock, Ida saved 18 lives, although some reports say this number may have been 25. In 1858 Ida performed the first of her many rescues and saved the lives of four young men whose boat had capsized.Ida's fame spread quickly after a daring 1869 rescue in a snowstorm, and articles appeared in the New York Tribune, Harper's Weekly, Leslie's magazine, and other major newspapers. On Independence Day in 1869, Ida was honored by the town, but this shy. retiring woman was distressed by all the attention.She was briefly married to Captain William Wilson in 1870, but they separated after two years.Although never awarded the Carnegie Medal, as was rumored, Andrew Carnegie did give her a pension in her later years.On the night she died in 1911, the bells on all the ships anchored in Newport Harbor tolled in her memory and flags were flown at half-staff throughout Newport. In 1924 the Rhode Island legislature officially changed the name of Lime Rock to Ida Lewis Rock with the lighthouse named after her --the only such honor ever paid to a keeper. In 1995, a new class of Coast Guard buoy tenders was named for Ida Lewis.The buildings at Lime Rock were sold in 1928 for $7,200 and became the Ida Lewis Yacht Club. The Yacht Club remains in operation today, with many additions surrounding the original buildings. A causeway now connects the rock to the mainland.A well-done effort about an interesting but little-known part of our coastal history.

Time stands still for no man, or woman for that matter

I read this book in a day. I was so taken by the life story of Ida Lewis and her many rescues in the harbor at Newport Rhode Island I could not put it down. I grew up in the area and I can't imagine how her very existence was unknown to me, until I was so lucky as to pick up this book in passing. The first woman lighthouse keeper, she made her first rescue at the age of 15 while living on Lime Rock with her family. Weighing all of 103 pounds her 18 documented feats of bravery over the years were nothing short of a miracle. Her modesty in the face of the attention showered upon her was a sight to behold. She was a woman with a purpose and the safety of the voyagers in her realm was of the utmost priority. In her lifetime her notoriety would bring even presidents to her rock in the harbor. At the age of 69, bureaucracy and a changing world of technology would shake the core of Ida's ways, upsetting her lifelong endeavors of keeping the light, and bringing things to an end for her. This was an inspiring book and extremely well researched. The author was diligent in searching out and documenting her sources, since Ida was not one to keep a journal. Where there was any question Skomal is quick to explain how she arrived at the material that she chose to include in the book.. Kelsana 7/31/02

Inspiring

The story of Ida Lewis is a most remarkable tale, but the manner and style in which Lenore Skomal wrote it is absolutely inspiring. Throughout history women have traveled many roads - some not so easy...this not only takes us down a bumpy road but an encourageing one to say the least. I join Ms. Skomal in celebrating Ida Lewis and encourage others to do the same.

amazing woman

Amazing woman in the land of the brave and the free.Not often I'm moved so deeply by a book but "Keeper of the lime rock" truly touch me in a way that speaks to the soul, it awakens that same awe that one has in the presence of someone amazing ,an Olympian of the soul. The author did a great job bringing Ida's life to us .I easy visualized her in her daily life and doing the astounding deeds of saving lives and moving through time and space with a Herculean life force in a small woman's body. The things this woman did move any person man or woman to think at what potential am I living my life? And inspiring us to possible try living with more richness of courage in our lives. This is a must read book specially if you need inspiration in your life!!!!