Cricket201904

Idaranoutsidewithoutpausingtograb

acoatorboots.Sheandheryoungerbrother

Hosea pushed their lifesaving skiff into the

surf.Againandagain,thewavesforcedthe

little boat back to shore. Ida would not give

up, and finally pulled the oars hard enough

to launch. Despite the rough seas, they made

steadyprogress.ThoughIdaweighedjustover

a hundred pounds, her arms were incredibly

strongfromyearsofrowingonthebay.

ON THE AFTERNOON of March

29, 1869, Zoradia Lewis was doing what she

didmanytimeseachday,gazingoutawindow

of the lighthouse on Lime Rock Island in

Newport, Rhode Island. Choppy waves leapt

to meet sheets of rain. The sun struggled to

lighttheskyoverNarragansettBay.Andyet,

shecouldswearshesawanoverturnedboat

withtwomenclingingtoitsslipperysides.

Zoradia called her daughter, Ida.

Ida Lewis,

the Heroine

of

LIME ROCK

LIGHTHOUSE

text © 2019 by Timothy Tocher

BY TIMOTHY TOCHER

An 1876 woodcut of Ida Lewis

rowing to the rescue

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