Julia Rappaport

Honoring a Life Spent in Service to the Island

In the depths of sorrow, gratitude is one of the hardest things to cultivate.

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So Much More Than a Meal

There are only so many topics you can cover at dinnertime when you’re spending all day with the same person.

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There's No Place Like Home

When the news began getting overwhelmed with stories of Covid-19, and the anxieties mounted, I lost my ability to read.

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Farm to Page

Julia Rappaport

Writing about food, which I’ve done now for just a few months shy of a decade, was never something I set out to do. And, especially at the beginning of my career, it was anything but trendy or glitzy. It was dirty, gritty, and messy – at times quite literally.

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Dry January

Julia Rappaport

It was after spending the holidays back home on the Island that I made the decision to tackle Dry January: an aptly-named, specialty cleanse in which one gives up booze for 31 days at the start of the new year.

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A Terrifying Hit, A Newfound Sense of Home

Vineyard roots run strong and deep and I never have imagined calling anywhere else on earth home. I grew up on the Island, but plenty of people grow up plenty of places. They move, they call other cities, other towns their own. What has always rooted me to Martha’s Vineyard is what roots so many people here — a community with a heart much larger than the Island’s 100 square miles would suggest.

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Joe the Plumber on the Island: Pressing Issues, No Press Corps

He has yet to hold a press conference in his front yard, hold forth on foreign policy regarding Israel, or hire a publicity management agent, as Ohio’s Joe Wurzelbacher has. But Joe Guerin, an Edgartown plumber with nearly 30 years experience, has seen his local fame skyrocket in the two weeks following the final presidential debate thanks to Mr. Wurzelbacher and the three little words he inspired: Joe the Plumber.

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Adult Education Gets a New Look

Adult education on Martha’s Vineyard dates back to the 1970s, but this month the old idea will be expanded and relaunched under the leadership of former high school Spanish teacher Lynn Ditchfield.

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Drizzle Dazzle: Festival Draws Soggy Patrons to Film Spectrum

Richard Paradise stood in the corner of the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Saturday afternoon, silent but smiling.

It was a rare moment. Mr. Paradise, co-director of the annual Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, is a natural talker and schmoozer. From the time this year’s festival kicked off Thursday afternoon to the time it closed Sunday at sunset, Mr. Paradise gabbed nonstop. He introduced films, talked shop with reporters and greeted audiences and filmmakers alike.

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County Charter Question Seeks to Reduce Commission Terms

Amid the heap of state and national issues on Tuesday, Island voters will be asked one local question: whether to reduce the terms of the seven-member Dukes County commission. A yes vote on ballot question number four will reduce terms from four years to two. A no vote will leave commission members serving four-year staggered terms.

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