Ernest Hemingway might have nailed our enjoyment of oysters when he wrote in A Moveable Feast “As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”
We probably don’t share Hemingway’s need to fill an existential void with our love for the succulent bivalve—rather, we celebrate meals with them— but we’re all aware that oysters and oystering, along with Chesapeake Bay blue crabs, are an inextricable feature of the Easter Shore and greater Chesapeake region. Restoration efforts due to oyster’s decline have resulted in both innovation and often fractious arguments with how best to deal with making them a sustainable product.
Director of Education at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and Chestertown resident Kate Livie took on the task of showcasing the relationship of the mighty oyster to the past, present and future of the Bay. Her soon to be published book, Chesapeake Oysters: The Bay’s Foundation and Future, is a lyrical and in-depth study of “how we got here,” along with a chorus of narrative voices drawn on her many interviews with professionals in the field.
The Spy interviewed her a year ago after she was contracted by History Press to write the book. Now that the book is being released this month, we thought we’d follow up and talk a little about her approach to writing, how the book developed and what she discovered in the process.
Livie will be reading and discussing her book at 6 pm, October 29, Hynson Lounge, Washington College. And, of course, there will be oysters! Let’s join her.
jenifer emley says
Brava, brilliant Kate!