What would happen if we actually were able to live with the celebrities we fawn over? You’d need to fully restock your kitchen three times a day to support Michael Phelps. Annie Oakley would surely stir up trouble with the neighbors. Whoever it is, normal life would simply go awry.

In her work-in-progress play, Wild Nights, award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates portrays the attempted assimilation of not only a celebrity, but one of the greatest literary names of all time — Emily Dickinson.

Warren Woessner, a self-described Renaissance man, is a poet, a chemist, a lawyer, and an active blogger. But on the Island, Mr. Woessner, 68, is primarily a “birdwatcher.” The term is, technically, outdated, he says, since bird enthusiasts began trying to distinguish themselves from the “little old ladies in their tennis shoes,” by referring to themselves as birders. Birding, which once meant hunting birds, now refers almost exclusively to the hobby of seeking the company of rare birds.

It’s hard to pinpoint the best label to suit Louisa Gould. Is she a photographer, a painter, a business consultant or a sailor? She’s worked on Wall Street, photographed the Olympics and multiple sailing events and worked as a videographer. But this weekend, Ms. Gould will play the part of gallery owner, as she celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Louisa Gould Gallery, a fixture of the Vineyard Haven art community.

After graduating from Whittier College in the 1960s, Guy Webster decided to join the army reserves for a six-month stint rather than go to Viet Nam. For the first three months he purchased, shipped and decorated Christmas trees. For the second half he taught photography, even though he had never even held a camera before that moment.

“I had never taken a photograph in my life,” remembered Mr. Webster. It wasn’t until his last month in the reserves that he shot his first roll of film. That was all it took to get him hooked.

There are all manner of real-world characters who escape to Martha’s Vineyard — to start a new life, to get away from their old one or simply to enjoy the Island. Some are accomplished lawyers, some are alcoholics, some are philanderers, some failed husbands. Jake Dellahunt, Vineyard Lawyer, with an office on the Cape, happens to be all of those.

Chilmark

Edward Solomon purchased 27 Old Ridge Hill in Chilmark from JP Morgan Chase Bank for $1,000,000 on July 27.

Elizabeth Rose and Cindy Anderson purchased Black Point Beach Lot, Parcel Two in Chilmark from Susan B. Whiting, individual and trustee, and William A. Oates, Jr. trustee of the John W. M. Whiting Non-Exempt Family Fund, for $315,000.

Edgartown

Red and green lights flash around the stage and disco balls twirl overhead. Music thumps from the speakers. Neon necklaces glow from amidst the dancing crowd.

When Peter Asher first heard Kate Taylor sing, he was instantly impressed. “I loved the texture of her voice and her phrasing, so I said, let’s make a record.”

Not one for idle chatter, Mr. Asher then produced her first record, Sister Kate. The year was 1971.

“She was even more of a soul singer devotee than James [Taylor] was,” Mr. Asher remembered. “He took after Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, but Kate was rocking out and blues-ing out much more overtly. I loved that she was a white soul singer.”

On Monday John Lee stood in the Tabernacle, excitedly talking about the second annual Martha’s Vineyard Jazz Festival. It was the same place he first came up with the idea. He pointed to the front few rows. “I sat in these pews with my daughter and visualized having a festival,” he said.

At the time there was nothing on stage. He was simply sitting and dreaming.

I must deviate from bird news to speak of other winged creatures, the snowberry clearwing and the hummingbird clearwing. These two belong to a group known as the sphinx moths and they mimic hummingbirds in shape, size and behavior. They have been everywhere this summer. The hummingbird moths are about an inch to an inch and a quarter long and their swept-back wings are about two inches long. Snowberry and hummingbird sphinx moths’ wings are mostly transparent, boasting black or reddish orange borders and veins. Both these hummingbird moths feed with a long hollow, straw-like proboscis, which they keep curled under the head until they are on-site ready to sip nectar from a flower.