Maryland's Vanishing Lives

Wistful, beautiful, elegiac... A handsome collection of essays and photographs that celebrates the lives of pigeon racers and elevator operators, oyster packers and barrel makers, sailmakers and boat builders, fishermen and blacksmiths. A kind of 'let us praise famous men' (and women), it celebrates blue collars and skinned knuckles, the stubbornness and pride that led some to continue with trades they learned long ago, not caring that the world has long since passed them by.

An elegant, understated volume... A combination Baedeker and time capsule, a guide to the Maryland, and the America, that is fast disappearing, the victims of the highway, the chain store, the franchise restaurant, the blur of windows, DOS, and disks.

Sherwood's prose is that of a master craftsman in his field—clear and plain, admirably brief yet touched with insight. Remsberg's photographs are straightforward, black-and-white, and blessedly free of artsy effects. Their book is a fine gift for this area, more than just a nice coffee-table decoration.

In this grand little book, most fittingly illustrated by photographer Edwin Remsberg's portraits, readers will learn and chuckle and keep turning pages for more and more of these slightly oddball Marylanders. Sherwood is an old-school reporter, weaned on digging up human-interest stories rather than political smears. It's a delight to find his brand of journalism—informative, surprising, charming, and fun—alive and well in Maryland's Vanishing Lives.