Salt in the Veins

"A love letter to a time and a town." 

—Sally Cabot Gunning, author of six critically acclaimed historical novels, four of them set on Cape Cod and the Islands

 

"A delightful book, brimming with stories both funny and poignant, told from the unique vantage point of a native-born Cape Codder. This book is guaranteed to put a smile on your face."  

—Paul Kemprecos, New York Times best-selling author

 

"Mary McDermott of Orleans takes the reader through stories of a simple childhood of school days, summer vacations, and soda fountains, to her four decades as a justice of the peace, in a style that only a true Cape Codder can. She writes that "it's a blessing to have salt in my veins." Her passion and gratitude for her historic hometown will leave readers feeling blessed as well." 

—Don Wilding, author of Cape Cod and the Portland Gale of 1898

 

 

Mary E. McDermott, a 13th-generation Cape Codder living in Orleans, is the author of Salt in the Veins and Old Orleans: Memories of a Cape Cod Town. She worked for 17 years in the Orleans Assessor’s Office and 23 years as a commercial insurance broker at Pike Insurance Agency. She has been a justice of the peace to solemnize marriages since 1976 and has previously published two books of poetry, Tapestry and Handle with Care. Her poems have appeared in several publications including the Christian Science Monitor.