De Wire, Elinor 1953- (Aline Matthews, Jessica Scott)

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De Wire, Elinor 1953- (Aline Matthews, Jessica Scott)

Personal

Born August 3, 1953, in Frederick, MD; married Jonathan De Wire (a retired Navy officer), December 30, 1972; children: Jessica, Scott. Education: University of Connecticut, B.G.S. (general studies), M.A. (education).

Addresses

Home—Seabeck, WA. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Educator, historian, author, and editor, beginning 1980. Workshop presenter and speaker; has appeared on television documentary programs. Historical preservationist and consultant.

Member

U.S. Lighthouse Society, American Lighthouse Foundation, Washington Lightkeepers Association (founder and president, 2005—).

Awards, Honors

National League of American Pen Women award for short fiction, 1992; Coast Guard Book Award, 2003, for Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast, and 2004, for Lighthouses of the Southern Coast; Ben Franklin Book Award, 2005, for Lighthouses of the Southern Coast.

Writings

The Guide to Florida Lighthouses, Pineapple Press (Englewood, FL), 1987, 2nd edition, 2001.

Journey through the Universe, Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT), 1987.

Activities for Young Astronomers, Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT), 1990.

Reach for the Sky, Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT), 1994.

Guardians of the Lights: The Men and Women of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, Pineapple Press (Englewood, FL), 1995, 2nd edition, 2007.

The Lighthouse Activity Book, Sentinel Publications, 1995.

Lighthouse Victuals and Verse, Sentinel Publications, 1996.

Sentries along the Shore, Sentinel Publications, 1997.

The Lighthouse Almanac, Sentinel Publications, 2000.

The Florida Night Sky: A Guide to Observing from Dusk till Dawn, Pineapple Press (Sarasota, FL), 2002.

Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast: Your Guide to the Lighthouses of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, Voyageur Press (Stillwater, MN), 2002.

Lighthouses: Sentinels of the American Coast, photographs by Laurence Parent, Graphic Arts Center Publishing (Portland, OR), 2003.

Lighthouses of the Southern Coast: Your Guide to the Lighthouses of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, photographs by Daniel E. Dempster, Voyageur Press (Stillwater, MN), 2004.

Florida Lighthouses for Kids, Pineapple Press (Sarasota, FL), 2004.

The Field Guide to Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast: California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawai'i, Voyageur Press (Stillwater, MN), 2006.

The Field Guide to Lighthouses of New England, MBI Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 2007.

The Lightkeeper's Menagerie: Stories of Animals at Lighthouses, Pineapple Press (Sarasota, FL), 2007.

Contributor of articles and columns to periodicals, sometimes under pseudonyms Jessica Scott and Aline Matthews, including Aloha, American History Illus-trated, Beachcomber, Birder's World, Cat Fancy, Compass, Cricket, Dog Fancy, Florida Keys, Heading Out, Horseman, Lighthouse Digest, Mariners Weather Log, Navy Times, Offshore, Sacramento, Sea Frontiers, Soundings, Trailer Boats, Ventura County Coast Reporter, Weatherwise, Western Boatman, and Yachtsman. Editor of Focal Point (quarterly newsletter of Washington Lightkeepers Association), 2005—.

Sidelights

Elinor De Wire has been researching, photographing, and writing about lighthouses since 1972, and she shares her interest in books such as Sentries along the Shore, Field Guide to Pacific Coast Lighthouses, and Florida Lighthouses for Kids. Through her lectures, workshops, articles, and books, De Wire has been an instrumental force in turning public attention toward the importance of preserving the many lighthouses that dot both U.S. coastlines: the "sentinels along the shore," to quote from the title of one of De Wire's many books.

While many of her books are written for a general readership, De Wire has also focused on a younger audience with The Lighthouse Activity Book, The Lightkeepers' Menagerie: Stories of Animals at Lighthouses, and Florida Lighthouses for Kids, as well as with her kid-oriented column in the periodical Lighthouse Digest. In a review for Children's Bookwatch, a reviewer praised De Wire's "informed and informative text" in Florida Lighthouses for Kids and added that the "form and format" of the book is "ideal for young readers."