A p r i l 2 0 1 8 1 3 “Great news for Maine–we’re getting a lobster emoji!” Sen. Angus King announced to his 184,000 Twitter followers recently. A 2017 pe- tition entitled “Let’s Make The Lobster Emo- ji Happen” garnered over 5,000 sig- natures and a place in the Unicode Consortium emoji dictionary. How- ever, keen-eyed Twitter-users were quick to point the cartoon crustacean pos- sesses only six walking legs–a mis- take hastily rectified by red-faced Unicode designers. Nonetheless, King thanked the organization for “recognizing the impact of this criti- cal crustacean in Maine and across the country” before signing off in sav- vy social media style: “Yours truly, Senator Clockwise from top left: dave johansen neon; courtesy monhegan historical society; “Wreck of the D. T. Sheridan” by rockwell kent, permanent collection of the Portland museum of art; courtesy photo; womankind - deva pardue Belle Bocal, René Johnson, Abigail Barrows, and Julie Eaton are the voices for Maine in Lifetime’s Her America: 50 Women, 50 States, a “digital content series.” The project involves multiple forms of storytelling, from essays to videos to pod- casts. Editor-in-Chief Lea Goldman says the campaign was inspired by the events of the last year. “There was so much talk about women–how many assumptions we made about them. And we thought, there are so many stories […] that deserve to be told.” Barrows, who hand-harvests oys- ters at Long Cove Sea Farm in Deer Isle, believes sharing stories unites us. “I’ve never had that many people out on the water with me. It was really fun to share the farm with them, especial- ly since many of them were clearly not country folk. They were really into my ‘outfit’ and asked, ‘Who are you wearing?’ ‘Where did you get your clothing?’ I thought they were joking.” Watch the stories at HerAmerica.com. HerMaine Pine State of Mind Bethany Field, owner of Maine Flag Company, has been busy since she brought a Maine classic back into view. Field began stitching and selling Maine’s original state flag, in use from 1901-1909, from her studio on India Street. “We came across the 1901 flag in 2013 and immediately saw it as a better representation of our state than the current blue ‘seal on a bedsheet,’” Field says. “We’ve received a surprising number of orders from out of state. We just got an order from Mainers stationed on an aircraft carrier in Virginia. Very cool.” A small shingled home on Monhegan Island was just added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Why? The house was built in 1906 by a 23-year-old Rock- well Kent. The young artist visited Monhe- gan a year earlier and became entranced by its savage beauty and coastline, sparking a lifelong inspiration. Winter, Monhegan Island hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Painter James Fitzgerald bought the property in 1952, continuing its legacy as a source of artistic explo- ration. Kent’s is the second Maine property to be added to The Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program after Winslow Homer’s studio in Prouts Neck. Monhegan Muse In Lobster News