Virginia Oliver
Most people don’t become famous for living a life they love, let alone after a century. However, 102-year-old lobsterwoman Virginia Oliver has captured hearts all over Maine and the country for that very reason. Virginia, or “Ginny” to close friends, has been lobstering on and off for over 94 years. Despite great hurdles and opportunities, she has decided time and again to live exactly the kind of life she wants to live. Her determination, work ethic, simple lifestyle, family, and abundance of good humor have carried her through rough waters and inspired many stories about her.
Virginia lives next door to the house she was born in – that her children were born in – in Rockland, Maine. Her father was a lobster dealer and owned a general store on The Neck of Andrew’s Island. She has fond memories of living on the island with her parents and siblings, sleeping in rooms above the store, cooking Saturday bean suppers with her mother in the kitchen off the store, and weighing lobsters and assisting customers in the store. She helped her father with the weirs using materials he made in the island’s sawmill and smithy, began lobstering with her older brother, and piloted her first boat at the age of eight, calling the fisherman in to work from neighboring islands. When Virginia was old enough to go to school, she moved back to the mainland with her older sister and lived with her aunts and grandfather in their Rockland house. Her childhood passed in this way, filled with adventures and separations, fresh air and learning. As she puts it, “I wasn’t scared of nothing. I’m not scared of stuff. If I have anything to say, I’ll say it.”
Virginia’s ability to face life’s storms head on buoyed her when her mother died. Virginia was only 16 at the time. The next year, she married a lobsterman, who grew up on the same street in Rockland. As their family grew, Virginia tested different jobs. She worked nights in a sardine factory while her schoolteacher aunt watched her children. After snipping off heads and tails for so many hours, she lost her taste for the small fish. When the youngest of her four children turned nine years old, she found a job working at a printing plant in Rockland. She never knew what she would do when she went in each day. She worked hard, sometimes hauling heavy boxes around, but doing whatever task was needed. Her coworker was paid more per hour and received most of the credit for her work, though, which was less than thrilling. After 18.5 years, she had had enough. She quit. She decided she wanted to go lobstering with her husband, and the very next day she did.
Virginia has been lobstering ever since, these days with her son, Max, on her husband’s boat: “Virginia.” She enjoys being her own boss, the fresh air, the work. The two of them can be seen heading from Rockland to Spruce Head in Virginia’s big truck during the wee hours of the morning about three days a week. She has no plans to stop lobstering any time soon. When asked her secret to life, she’s quick to mention the importance of staying busy, and between the lines, of staying busy with something you like doing. Lobstering doesn’t feel like work to her. If she didn’t like it, she wouldn’t do it. Certain rituals—such as Saturday bean suppers with family, daily creamy peanut butter sandwiches, and homemade chocolate doughnuts—and time out on the water help, too.
In May, shortly before Virginia’s 103rd birthday, my picture book biography about Virginia will come out from Charlesbridge. Of all the books I have written so far (which will include 5 published by the end of 2023), The Lobster Lady has been the most special project. Virginia’s willingness to share her story and time and infectious laugh are part of what makes her a joy to be around. During my visits, one or more of her children and friends were always coming and going. She is well loved and loves well. It feels fitting for this strong Maine woman to have her story come out from a team of Maine women. In addition to myself, The Lobster Lady’s illustrator Jamie Hogan, editor Julie Bliven, and art director Kristen Nobles, all live in or have deep ties to Maine. We hope we do her story justice. It has truly been an honor to get to know Virginia, and we hope to introduce her to future generations.
