Precerpt from In with the East Wind: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life (Leaver) - Acton: The Fish Man
The fish man came to the door like
clockwork every Thursday. He parked his refrigerated truck in our driveway,
walked past Duke, who had come to know him, and asked Ma to come out and see
what she might like that week: haddock, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, lobster,
and more. Most often, Ma would load up on haddock, scallop, and clams, leaving
the lobster for our supermarket trip in the city after church on Sundays.
Ma made a wicked haddock meal. She would
bread a big fish with corn meal, put a little bit of milk into a fish-shaped white
corning-type bowl, and bake it. Those were the days. I hanker after haddock a
lot. It is almost impossible to find outside of New England, and no one makes it
like Ma did.
Every Sunday after church, we’d
stop at the supermarket and pick up eight live lobsters. Some folks called them
sea spiders (not because they did not like them but because, well, they do look
like spiders, especially when they are alive). Lobster was our Sunday meal not because
it was a holiday but because in those days, lobster was cheaper than hamburger.
It did take some time to prepare a lobster meal, so Sunday was the day of
choice.
There were only six kids in the
family then. The other two came along after I’d left home, so the math worked:
one lobster per kid, two for the grown-ups if we didn’t get too grabby.
We rode home in one of those older
cars with the shelf behind the back seat—perfect for stashing groceries, or in
our case, eight wriggling lobsters. We’d let them out of the bag, pull off the
rubber bands, and dare each other to slip our fingers between their claws and
yank them out quickly before the claws snapped shut. My father drove with white
knuckles. My mother turned around every few minutes to yell, “Stop it! You’ll
lose a finger!” We never did. But we made her lose her patience every time.
Once home, into the pot of boiling
water slid the lobsters. Boiling and steaming are the only real ways to cook
lobster and retain their flavor. (I don’t eat lobster at restaurants outside
New England; the baking and broiling dries out the lobsters and eliminates
their natural juicy flavor—and then you have to use butter to restore it! These
restaurateurs need to visit some Maine farm families. They know how to cook
lobster right.)
After the lobsters had turned red,
ready for the table, Ma tore off the little legs—the tasty little things that
people who know nothing about lobsters trash in restaurants, if ever they are
even served—and gave them to us to suck on. The sweetest lobster meat there is,
but you have to work for it (like most worthwhile things)! That kept us quiet
while she was finishing preparing the meal.
And now, decades later, we kids have
scattered, and the fish men service only stores and restaurants. More disappointing,
tourists have discovered an affection for lobster (not the live sea spiders,
but the meat inside them), food marketers have discovered tourists, and prices
have tripled those of hamburger. Mainiacs who live on the coast have to trip a
bit inland for anything near their old prices, but they can be found in places like
Shain's in Sanford and Johnson's Seafood & Steak Restaurant in North
Berwick. At least, for now.
Book Description:
From the barefoot freedom of rural Maine to the diplomatic halls of Central Asia, from rescuing a dying child in Siberia to training astronauts in Houston and Star City, In with the East Wind traces an extraordinary life lived in service, not strategy.
Unlike those who chase opportunity, the author responded to it—boarding planes, crossing borders, and stepping into urgent roles she never sought but never declined. Over 75 years and 26 countries, she worked as a teacher, soldier, linguist, professor, diplomat, and cultural ambassador. Whether guiding Turkmen diplomats, mentoring Russian scholars, or founding academic programs in unlikely places, her journey unfolded through a steady stream of voices asking: Can you come help us?
Told through an alphabetical journey across places that shaped her—from Acton, Maine to Uzbekistan—this memoir is rich with insight, adventure, and deep humanity. At its heart lies the quiet power of answering the call to serve, wherever it may lead.
Like Mary Poppins, she drifted in with the East Wind—bringing what was needed, staying just long enough, and leaving behind transformation. Then she returned home, until the next wind called.
From the forthcoming book:
In with the East Wind...A Mary Poppins Kind of Life
Volume 1: ABC Lands
by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver
For more posts about this book, click HERE.
For more posts by and about Betty Lou Leaver, click HERE.
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