We'll go straight to the shameless commerce dept... but check out the links on the left too.
Hey, hi! and thanks for stopping by. I am Virginia Thorndike, also known as Dinnie. I am fortunate enough to be living here in Maine where all kinds of interesting maritime endeavors are going on all the time. For over a decade now I've been writing about them, enjoying every minute of it, and have broadened my sights of late.

A number of my books have been published--you may read about them by scrolling down this page.

I'll be happy to sign books. Purchase them directly from me, either by using PayPal or by sending me a check (email me for address etc.)

Currently, I've not got the Paypal automatic buttons working - but you can still pay me that way, using my email address, below. Just contact me to find out what the shipping cost will be.

Alternatively, though I make less this way, you may obtain any but the Bowdoin book from your local or online bookstore. I have copies available of the Bowdoin book.

Sorry not to have a link to automatically address email to me, but the link was picking up too many spammers. Here's my address:
NEW!! LNG: A Level-Headed Look at the Liquefied Natural Gas Controversy
There had been much fuss in Maine about a couple of early proposals for terminals, both of which disappeared amid public furor, but I became intrigued by the facts about LNG when my tugboating friends talked confidently about handling the ships that would import the stuff. I had no idea what the truth was, and I know there are many other people with the same questions I had. There is plenty of information about liqufied natural gas on the web, but the sources are, almost to a one, involved in the industry one way or another. Company websites support their industry and say LNG is the safest, cleanest source of energy at hand; reading those, one would think LNG will be the salvation of civilization. There are also rabidly anti-LNG sites suggesting that LNG will certainly bring doom to anyone and anything within tens of miles of a facility.

The fact is, the U.S. uses more and more energy, and other nations are increasing their usage even more than we are. Is LNG a plausible source for some of the required energy? That's what I consider in this book.

"This book succeeds in giving an understanding of what LNG is, where it comes from and how it gets here, and where it goes once it's here.... Anyone with even a passing interest in LNG will find it very informative and very readable." Chris Oelschlagel, Commander, USCG (Ret)

"Virginia Thorndike brings a genuine, straightforward, and factual assessment of LNG to a highly charged discussion." John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable

"Should be required reading for policy makers and the public, both of whom are subjected to more spin than helpful information on this critically important topic." Prof. Jerry Havens, Univ. of Arkansas, co-developer of exclusion zone models for LNG terminals

"Interesting insights into the people and entities that make the decisions and form energy policy in the LNG world. Hat to admit it, but I learned a lot!" Rob Wyatt, vice president of Downeast LNG

256 pages, many illustrations, index (2007) $15.95
Islanders, Real Life on the Maine Islands

from the blurb: "A handful of Maine islands are still populated year-round. Virginia Thorndike visted them all and put her listening skills to work, encouraging island-born natives and "transplants" alike to speak frankly about their lives. In these pages, they describe the practicalities of bringing groceries out and lugging garbage off, of generating electricity or managing without, of finding ways to keep their schools and provide care for elders so their communities don't wither away.

Often they speak of the ironies of island life: their kids willnever get lost, but they also might not get emergency medical care. The miles of rough water that make it inconvenient to fetch groceries and fuel seem to be no barrier against street drugs. Long, quiet winters are followed by intensely busy summers. Their grown daughters move off-island, but some of their sons will stay on.

From a review in the Camden Herald:

"'Islanders' punctures some of the romantic notions mainlanders have about island life, yet it also tells how deeply rewarding that life can be. Clearly, the people who have chosen to stay on these islands would say they chose well."

"It is harder, certainly more unusual, for an author to describe the truth about life in Maine than to paint a pretty picture of it. But it is definitely worth the effort... Once in a while a writer and a publisher venture further and tell a better story. Such a book is the recent 'Islanders: Real LIfe on the Maine Islands,' written by Virginia 'Dinnie' Thorndike, and published by Down East....

"'Islanders' is pretty much a work of journalism, although she occasionally lets people speak anonymously, as when talking about the historic prevalence of drugs, alcohol, spousal abuse and adultery. And some of these stories are frank enough for the author to place them on the fictional Smith Island, a place she creates to cover a multitude of sins. But everything else is reported in real time and places....

"This book's style, its wide-ranging treatment of a large number of topics, shows the good and the not so good, and the overall effect seems genuine. this suggests that it is a good piece of reporting, and a help to people who want to understand what life is like just off our coast."

320 pages, many photographs, index (2005) $16.95
On Tugboats - Stories of Work and Life Aboard
From Hugh Ware, maritime writer and columnist:

"This is by far the best tugboat book I've ever read. Take Farley Mowat's two classic books about tugs and salvage and double the thrill! 'Dinnie' Thorndike is a superb educer of real-life stories from those that do and did and she captured their vernacular and accents, then interwove them (with some help from your truly) with hard-nosed looks at tugboating American-style. For example, her coverage of the New York tugboat strike has more depth and detail from its participants on both sides than I've ever seen before and she makes plain why Coast Guard regulations emperil tugboat workers. The result is a remarkably thorough yet off-beat survey of tugboating American-style, Dinnie is rapidly becoming a world-class writer (see her 'Bowdoin' and 'Maine Lobsterboats' for other examples). I rate her just behind John McFee."

384 pages, 113 photos and illustrations, glossary and index (2004). $18.95
Maine Lobsterboats - Builders and Lobstermen Speak of Their Craft
from a reader on Amazon:

"Thorndike has assembled a thoroughly engrossing collection of solid information, individual viewpoints, opinions and tall tales about the Maine lobsterboat told in their own words by the people who know and love them best. Each interview unveils the character of the individual as well as the boats they talk about. Downeast life on the water comes alive in the droll understated humor that is their characteristic means of expression. The book is pure pleasure."

168 pages, 44 b&w photos and 5 drawings, glossary (1998). $16.95
The Arctic Schooner Bowdoin - a Biography
The 74-year-old Bowdoin comes alive through the personal journals, published records, and tales from dozens of people whose lives have been changed by their time spent with the schooner. Thorndike traces the Bowdoin's diverse lives from an exploration vessel and conscript in the Navy during WW II, to a museum exhibit and a classroom for Outward Bound. The biography includes historic, black-and-white photos of the Bowdoin and those who have sailed aboard her on more than 25 Arctic voyages, as well as outstanding color photos by acclaimed photographer Tom Stewart. Today, owned by Maine Maritime Academy, the Bowdoin is Maine's Official Sailing Vessel and a National Historic Landmark.

256 pages, 22 b/w and 11 color photos (1995). $16.95
Windjammer Watching on the Coast of Maine (3rd edition)
A revision of what has become a well-known guide, Windjammer Watching on the Coast of Maine provides a systematic review of the windjammer fleet in midcoast Maine, as well as some from away that sail here. Virginia Thorndike tells us how to identify all the individual vessels and gives the histories and vital statistics for each. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in taking a windjammer cruise, for boaters cruising the coast of Maine who want to identify windjammers they see, and for armchair sailors who enjoy reading about these traditional sailing vessels, most of which began their careers as cargo carriers, pilot boats, fishermen, and private yachts.

"A useful little book ... peppered with anecdotes about boats, captains, and escapades." - Portland Press Herald

144 pages, many photos and drawings (2002). $12.95
How We Got There From Here - on SALE!

This book is a collection of personal stories of getting around in the State of Maine before automobiles took over, told by the Mainers who lived them. I spoke with a fellow who sailed as cook on a four-masted schooner, another who worked on a side-wheeling steamboat, and several told tales of horses, trolleys, Model Ts, coasting schooners, and trains.

We've only just gotten back to being able to get goods from Boston to Maine overnight - that was commonplace in the early part of the twentieth century.

Part of the fun of creating this book was chasing down the many period photographs that go well with the story-tellers' own words. The book makes a great present for older folks.

134 pages of stories and photos (1997) SPECIAL! $10.00