Describes the life of Ida Lewis, the lighthouse keeper of Lime Rock, whose rescues of eighteen people made her a celebrity across the country. Adult/High School-A slender but compelling portrait of the woman who served as keeper of the lighthouse in the Newport, RI, harbor in the latter half of the 19th century. Lewis assumed her position when illness and frailty rendered her father unable to continue the job. Although she was shy and reserved, the publicity that followed her 1869 rescue of two men during a March northeaster initiated a series of cascading events that ultimately resulted in parades; honoraria; visits from the president, vice-president, General William Tecumseh Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, and others; and drew a torrent of tourists. As a backdrop to the story, Skomal describes the beginnings of the U.S. Coast Guard service, explains the early regulation of lighthouses under the Secretary of the Treasury, and acquaints readers with the affluent Newport society that played a significant part in Lewis's rise to prominence. Other women lighthouse keepers of the era are briefly mentioned in contrast. A spare collection of photographs and quotations enhances the text, and will nicely strengthen students' perceptions of this woman whose career unexpectedly intersected the opulence of the Gilded Age. Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. In 1869, 17-year-old Ida Zoradia Lewis plunged into the water off Rhode Island's Lime Rock Lighthouse and pulled two men out of the sea. Her act of bravery propelled her to national celebrity, but that rescue was not her first. By 1869, young Ida had already saved the lives of five other strangers. Was she a born hero? No, not according to Ida, who spent the bulk of her life as the keeper of the Lime Rock Lighthouse. In this sensitive biography, Skomal presents Lewis as a woman who accepted her celebrity with grace and dignity but who did nothing to encourage it. And, despite the best efforts of a lot of people to turn her into a cultural icon, Lewis remained a humble woman who merely wanted to live her peaceful life at the lighthouse. She is almost completely unknown now, nine decades after her death, but as Skomal suggests, that's probably exactly the way she would have wanted it. A remarkable story of an ordinary woman who did some extraordinary things. David Pitt Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Carefully combed historic records...Numerous photographs, notes and a bibliography do justice to this remarkable... heroine." -- Melanie Lauwers, Cape Cod Times (5/12/02) "Fascinating...a lively-fast moving account to hold the reader's interest...spellbinding." -- Ginny Stolicker, The Oakland Press ((5/26/02) "Lenore Skomal...treats her solid historical homework briskly and lightly...Fascinating." -- Sam Coale, The Providence Journal (5/26/02) "Meticulously researched...recounts the story of Ida Lewis and other courageous women who tended the precious fresnel lenses...." -- Standard-Times, New Bedford, MA (6/26/02) "Oddly compelling book is of a tiny tigress...all of 103 pounds, bound to a lonely speck of rock." -- Sandy Bauers, Philadelphia Inquirer (7/13/02) An intilligent and concise biography of the pioneering woman. A good sea story...about an unusual and brave woman. -- Publisher's Weekly 4/15/02 Lewis' life one of daring rescues, fame...remarkable. -- Connecticut Post 3/29/02 [A] sensitive biography...A remarkable story of an ordinary woman who did some extraordinary things. -- Booklist 4/01/02 Lenore Skomal is an award winning columnist for the Connecticut Post and the author of Heroes . We have only one life to live, and when our time comes we've got to go; so it doesn't matter how. I never thought of danger when people needed help. At such times you're busy thinking of other things. -Ida Lewis When she performed this duty, she had no thought of its being recognized. In fact, I believe if she thought what men would say about it, probably the act never would have been done at all. -Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson The wintry gale was coming in fast and furious, whipping the water around Lime Rock Lighthouse into a roiling frenzy, and sending icy blasts of wind against the house, clattering the windows of the kitchen. It was March 29, 1869. Early spring meant an influx of storms into the harbor, which chopped up the still-icy seas and brought spring thaw in with a vengeance. It was 5:00 P.M., and Ida had taken a few minutes to sit in her favorite chair near the hearth before preparing dinner. She had been sick with a terrible cold, and was trying to collect herself for the night's work ahead. As she soaked her feet in warm water, she heard her mother rustling in the other part of the house. Ida Zoradia--known simply as Zoradia so as not to be confused with her namesake daughter--had gone to her room to lie down. She was weary from taking care o