''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.''David Nicholson, Washington Post ''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.''David Shribman, Wall Street Journal For more than two years, John Sherwood roamed Maryland's small towns and city neighborhoods, traveled Appalachian back roads, and sailed the Chesapeake looking for people whose work or way of life recalled the state's rich and varied tradition. Maryland's Vanishing Lives is his vivid account of the people he met on those journeys. Working in a country store or an old-time movie house, on a small tobacco farm or a weathered skipjack, Sherwood's subjects interest us as people, as stubborn survivors who have watchedsometimes defiantly, sometimes wistfullyas the world moved on. These Marylanders' stories poignantly show what happens to family businesses and ordinary folk in the face of new technology, suburban sprawl, franchise outlets, and changing tastes. But Maryland's Vanishing Lives is also an engaging celebration of pride and craft, and the ability to survive. In this collection of sixty-six short profiles, illustrated with memorable photographs by Edwin Remsberg, Sherwood preserves for posterity the lives of Marylanders who hang on to values and skills that are quickly disappearing. ''Sherwood's prose is that of a master craftsman in his fieldclear 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.''John Goodspeed, Baltimore City Paper ''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 journalisminformative, surprising, charming, and funalive and well in Maryland's Vanishing Lives.''Edwards Park, Contributing Editor, Smithsonian Magazine
