Artisans Art

November 30, 2025

The annual Artisans Fair unfolded at the Ag Hall this past Friday and Saturday. It’s always a festive experience to share my books with the gathering crowds. Sometimes it’s very busy, and sometimes kind of slow. This year was right in the middle for many of us, not great, but certainly not a bust.

Over the course of six hours each day I enjoyed chatting with old friends and made new ones. One woman said of all my books, she favored Mystery on the Vineyard because it read like a novel. That was a complement I don’t recall hearing before. Several copies of Martha’s Vineyard in the American Revolution flew off the table; thank you, Ken Burns. And of course, Ghosts is a perennial favorite.

I bought Paul Magid’s Pursuing the Leviathan, the saga of whaleman Benjamin Clough. I knew his story, documenting it in Whaling on Martha’s Vineyard. After reading the first three chapters, I’m impressed with Magid’s research, writing style, and dedication to a whaleman’s life. It’s an intriguing book I anticipate reading in full.

Time flew by with book sales and chatting with fellow authors, two in their nineties. Joyce and Kutter stopped by a couple of times, which was most enjoyable. One couple recognized me from a cemetery tour I gave last summer when I couldn’t remember what author Tom Clancey needed on his Thanksgiving dinner table. I still couldn’t recall. Joyce reminded me it was sauerkraut. Who would have thought?

It was especially sweet that Jill and Curt paid a visit, all the way from New Orleans, to see her ol’ man in action.

All in all, it proved an enjoyable couple of days, selling thirty books and keeping my writing career on track.

Tom Dresser

For my catalogue of books, visit tomdresser.com.