On Thursday, April 12, at 5 pm, the West Tisbury library will host a book talk with Island writer Dan Cabot. According to a press release, Cabot will present his newly released book, “Stuff My Grampa Wrote,” which is a collection of poems, speeches, and essays written in dedication to his grandchildren. Dan will discuss the writing process and give a reading, with a Q and A to follow. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
Cabot has been writing most of his life. He moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1999 after working 38 years as an English teacher, coach, counselor, and administrator in five private boarding schools. During most of his teaching career, he dabbled in poetry, attending workshops on Martha’s Vineyard and corresponding with other amateur poets — and once in a great while publishing a poem in a magazine. As English department chair of Wyoming Seminary, he wrote a textbook for an interactive ninth-grade curriculum, and took a moonlighting job teaching English 101/102 at Wilkes University. In his last job, at the Solebury School, he was director of studies, but always managed to teach at least one course as well. Throughout his years in teaching, he taught writing at every level from middle school to college freshman.
After retiring from education, he took part-time work as a copy editor, first at the Gazette, and then at The MV Times and Edible Vineyard magazine. Working with writers, sometimes brand-new to the newspaper business, he found himself a different kind of writing coach. He also wrote often for the publications he edited. Many of the essays in “Stuff My Grampa Wrote” were published in The Times. He also was active in local education as a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School board of trustees for six years and as a member of the Up-Island Regional School Committee for eight. For two years, he was the only person in Massachusetts to serve on both a charter school board and as an elected member of a school committee at the same time. Several of the pieces in “Stuff My Grandpa Wrote” were written as the chair of a school committee.
Dan Cabot has been married to Nancy Cabot for 56 years. They have three sons and seven grandchildren.
