People of the Book is the new novel from Vineyard Haven author Geraldine Brooks — her first since March won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It hits stores on Tuesday and will be launched on Thursday with a special public reading at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. A longtime foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Brooks was inspired by the true story of a mysterious codex known as the Sarajevo Haggadah.

Readers this year lost voices that long had thrived in the Island’s literary ecosystem, from the internationally acclaimed wag Art Buchwald to the perenially pot-boiling (literally — see his cookbook D’lish! for recipes) bestseller Philip Craig. Both left a rich legacy, however, with Mr. Craig’s latest (not last — another will be in stores in May 2008) mystery served up poshumously. His quahauging and crime-solving detective J.W. Jackson is back in the just-released Third Strike, another of Mr.

In the summer, birds and bees and buzzing things are easy to see. They are out and about at the beach and on the playground. But come winter, the Vineyard animals are harder to spot. Beginning in January, the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary will, for the first time, offer its popular Creature Feature program for young naturalists in the winter months.

There is probably no simpler illustration of the dominant news themes of Martha’s Vineyard, 2007, than that of the friendly Rhode Island red rooster owned by Jessica Rose Seidman, of West Tisbury.

Chickie, who Ms. Seidman hatched from an egg almost five years ago when she was 11 and then kept as a pet, had won four firsts at the annual Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair.

The Martha’s Vineyard Donors Collaborative has decided to discontinue the special Martha’s Vineyard license plate program for lack of interest.

The plate campaign started in the summer of 2006 and 500 applications were received in the first six months, the collaborative stated in a release.

M enemsha was all hunkered down

’Twas quiet like all Chilmark town

In winter when it’s cold — and snow

Is falling as all folk do know

And Dutcher Dock is still — except

For Scott McDowell who’s so deft

At making copper fish to sell

For he must pound and tap as well

To make his fish come out just right.

His cod and sole are quite a sight.

Few boats are tied up at the dock

And so it came as quite a shock

To Santa Claus to see bright lights

Vineyard home cook Charlie Cameron enjoys a laissez-faire approach to cooking. He grew up with parents who went to France on their honeymoon in the 1950s, and stayed for two years. They were “serious foodies,” he explained, who passed their love for cooking on to him. While at Vassar College in the 80s, Mr. Cameron dropped out for a year and a half, because he just wanted to cook for a while.

“I’d heard about this place on Martha’s Vineyard called The Black Dog, where they’d train you to cook,” he said.

Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but Americans overwhelmingly (69 per cent) prefer red.

Pink comes in a distant second with 14 per cent, and white last with only 7 per cent. Don’t call up your hairdresser to make an appointment: these color choices have little to do with locks and everything to do with holiday custom.

Welcome Kauâ

Celia and Jacson Cardoso of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Kauâ Cardoso, on Dec. 17 at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Kauâ weighed 7 pounds, 7.4 ounces at birth.

The family and friends of Rose B. Anthony gathered this week to reflect on her life and to say a final farewell to a wonderful woman who has touched the lives of so many people over the more than half a century she was in our midst. Sincerest condolences to her family and friends. Rose found her home in Aquinnah to be a very special place where she would find tranquility, lifelong friends and a great place to raise her children and grandchildren during the summer. She was very generous of her time over the years. We were fortunate to share so much over the years, especially her wit and wisdom.