Two Men and the Sea
Written by Heather Atwood on April 5th, 2011
I was on my way to Harvard to hear a talk by Barton Seaver, a chef who is considered an expert on ocean sustainability, and is now a fellow National Geographic and the Blue Ocean Institute, when I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee, opened my ipad to The Gloucester Times, and read that local lobsterman Peter Prybot had died.
It’s still even hard for me to write those words. I can’t say I was friends with Peter, but every day I saw his blue fishing boat bobbing in the waters at the end of our rocks, Peter fishing or pulling lobster traps. Sunday mornings around 9:30 or 10:00, I would pass the window and see his uncovered blue boat alone in the bay. There’s Peter, I would think, and, truly, it felt like confirmation that the earth was still spinning on its axis. Inevitably, someone in the house, my husband or one of my daughters, would say, “Peter Prybot’s out there.” There was something nice about the alliteration of his name, and if you knew him, there was something just nice about Peter. He had a youthful, handsome build – he could easily pass for twenty years younger – keen blue eyes, and a wide dimpled smile. He was a sort of fisherman’s version of Dudley Doright, but with a dignified DownEast softness to his accent.
Click here for the post-
http://blogs.gloucestertimes.com/foodforthought/2011/04/05/two-men-and-the-sea/
Good Morning Gloucester 
Barton Seaver is a hump…I have a third cousin in Nebraska that knows more about seafood than him. You should have spent more time listening to Prybott. Good to know you thought he was handsome though.
LikeLike
Thank you Heather for sharing about Peter Prybot. My family so loved reading his columns in the Times. His family is surely suffering unimaginable loss and, for we who only knew him through his writing, he will be greatly missed.
LikeLike
Her post is absolutely beautiful. Such a terrible loss. I posted my own thoughts on my blog: Fare Thee Well To A Lobsterman, Writer and Friend
LikeLike
What a beautiful post, Heather, it made me cry as well. I did not know Peter personally, but also read his columns and knew of him, so tragic what happened. I will read your post next, Eileen. My sympathy to Peter’s family and all who knew him.
Jenn
LikeLike
Sorry…I realize after reading your blog post, it is Kathleen, not Eileen, your name is hidden behind your icon pic in my old version of IE6, sorry, I now realize I’ve read your work before and should have know. Anyway, what a wonderful tribute to your friend!
LikeLike
It seems lately, every time I look at the Times, there’s another obituary for someone I went to high school with. Just proves our mortality, I guess – not that it needed it. Peter and I were always just on “Hi, how ya doin’ today” terms, but he was clearly someone who had his mind set on the sea. This was a nice piece, Heather, a damn nice piece.
LikeLike