January 24, 2012- I'm glad there are still people like Gwen Keane in the Northern Neck.
Folks who grew up on and in the water, eating oysters, fish and crabs because they caught them for a living.
Having skunks and raccoons as pets, spending days sitting on docks or roaming through bean fields.
Traveling on ferries or rough roads to cities such as Richmond only once or twice a year, to buy an Easter dress or Christmas presents.
And heading to town–in Keane's case, the Lancaster County town of Kilmarnock –on Saturday nights after the menhaden boats were in for the week.
"Everyone would park their cars downtown and sit and talk, well into the evening," said Keane. "You'd be in the back seat with the windows rolled down and it seemed like everyone in town stopped to say hello and catch up."
I met Keane recently in her home near Kilmarnock to talk with the writer and retired government employee about her latest work.
It's an impressive book of text and photos called "Swan Wait," the story of a family of mute swans that for a time were regular visitors to the Indian Creek waters where Keane and her husband have retired.
The Northumberland County native, who lived in Portsmouth and then Washington, D.C., while working in a high-level job with the Navy, has an interesting perspective on the Northern Neck.
She was born and raised in Ditchley, a waterfront community with ties to some of Virginia's founding families.
She lived with her grandparents growing up. They had an oyster-packing company, a crab-shedding operation and more.
Read the full story at Fredericksburg.com