Suellen Lazarus, director of our Chilmark Book Festival, must be proud of me. I headed to the famous Bunch of Grapes, where Bill Clinton was spied shopping this week, and bought four new books, all by Island authors. I shall be carrying them around with me everywhere like a schoolkid until I run into each author and get them signed. Three are poetry. One is Skip Finley’s new Historic Tales of Oak Bluffs.

By the way, Skip and Bow Van Riper are holding a Q&A on Skip’s new book this Saturday, August 24, at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum from 9:30 a.m. until noon.