To your right is the Publisher’s Note from the very first issue of Cape Cod LIFE from June 1979. We did not have what is now known as Gunk’holing for the first few years of publishing the magazine. The column evolved and, after a few years, the definition of Gunk’holing seemed appropriate both literally and figuratively.

My brother Kevin has suggested we produce a book called The Best of Gunk’holing that assembles the most memorable columns from over the years. Kevin is the youngest in our family of six boys and two girls. He went to high school here on Cape Cod (Barnstable High) and, in 1982, his first job was selling subscriptions for Cape Cod LIFE door-to-door. Years later Kevin lived in England for a while and earned a PhD in English Literature from Oxford. Over the years he’s published both academic and creative work. 

Kevin is now hard at work reading through the Gunk’holing archive, and, as we head toward almost 50 years of Cape Cod LIFE, he plans to preview some of his finds, selecting a stand-out Gunk’holing in future issues. If all goes according to plan, we’ll assemble the finished product into a bound collection.

My best,

Brian Shortsleeve

Publisher
Cape Cod Life Publications

gunk’holing is the art of getting a boat into any small shallow cove, forbidden to boats of deeper draft and out again, without running aground much over a dozen times. — J. Benjamin

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