Lighthouse Lives (John Donald) (Apr)

This book tells the stories of the last generation to work on manned lighthouses in Scotland. The interviews record the life experiences of more than fifty former lighthouse keepers and their families who worked in Scotland and the Isle of Man before and during the process of lighthouse automation, which was completed in 1998. The job of lighthouse keeper led to a unique perspective on life, as keepers worked within small close-knit communities around each lighthouse to watch the lights, maintain the lighthouses and respond to emergencies. The keepers’ families, and the Northern Lighthouse Board’s engineers and boat crews, were also part of an extended lighthouse community along the entire Scottish coastline.