Caption: PRX default Piece image
PRX default Piece image 

Just Another Fish Story

From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Length: 00:08:28

A small town in rural Maine recalls the impact of a beached whale on their community. Read the full description.
To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.

More from Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Piece image

Growing with Oysters (00:05:54)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Using shellfish to build confidence in middle schoolers.
Piece image

The Pack Leader (00:07:19)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Brenda Foster has taken it upon herself to rescue abandoned and neglected wolves, and to educate the public about the wolf.
Piece image

Test It, Break It, Fix It (00:04:52)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Two young women build a robot.
Piece image

Everywhere But Here (00:07:10)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Is Maine immune to a deadly bat disease?
Piece image

Poz Rayz (00:06:03)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Nigel Chase spent much of his youth learning the art of making and playing steel drums with his father. Nigel now makes a living making pans, playing pan music professionally ...
Piece image

The Length and Breadth of a Troublesome Word in Maine (00:07:45)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

I was once told that the 1960s didn’t reach Maine until the 1980s. I learned that it took longer.
Piece image

Bury Me Deep (00:11:36)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Two hospice workers invite us into the world of death and dying.
Piece image

Kwan (00:06:51)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

From Sudan to Portland to Iraq and back.
Piece image

Lucas' Mama (00:05:28)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

A young mother’s role in guiding her deaf son toward hearing and speaking.
Piece image

Cougar (00:09:15)
From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Mainers see cougars all the time. Here's the problem: There are no cougars in Maine.

Piece Description

Ten years ago, a whale washed ashore on the beach of Lubec in the poorest county in Maine. The people in town had to make a decision quickly—how would they get rid of a 60-ton dead whale?

4 Comments Atom Feed

User image

Review of Just Another Fish Story

On the face of it, this is the story of a big, stinky whale that washed up on a Maine beach ten years ago. The people who lived there had to figure out how to dispose of its rotting carcass. But dig a little deeper and this is the story of the unreliability of witnesses and mortality. In the documentary film "The Thin Blue Line," director Erroll Morris shows how people who see the same event can have vastly different interpretations about what happened. Producer Molly Menschel makes the same revelation here. She quotes people describing the color and position of the dead whale, but the descriptions vary greatly. "Just another Fish Story" also questions the meaning of life in an unromantic manner. Near the end of the piece, a grizzled old man says this: "There's a lot of people who think 'I'm so big. I'm so great.' No matter how powerful they are something will happen in life that will cause people to say, 'How small am I anyway?'" Amen.

User image

Review of Just Another Fish Story

In the 17th century, Dutch masters were fond of painting a series of works based on the five senses. This piece covers them all in just eight minutes! From word of mouth to weather reports, small town politics to the logistics of grave-digging, the great themes of life, death and immortality are revealed with a good dose of mystery and mythology thrown into the mix as well. The voices are fantastic, the music perfectly evocative and the story - well, near the end, one old-timer says, "If you never did see it you'd never understand it." But he's oh so wrong... This is certainly more than just another fish story!

User image

Review of Just Another Fish Story

When I heard this there was a smile on my face the entire time. Its pacing is like a raft trip through rapids: quick overlapping cuts that pull you along and occasionally take your breath away. The Down East voices are wonderful and the jaw harp and fiddle music complement them perfectly. Some of the juxtapositions are hilarious; others provide startling insights about community, life and death. A very special piece.

See all 4 comments >>

Musical Works

Several tunes by Tapani Varis are featured in this piece from the album "Jews Harp", 1998, Northside Records.

Related Website

http://www.salt.edu