Rhode Island’s Ocean and Coastal Magazine

Summer/Fall  2025

Letter From the Editor

THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS

I met Greg Skomal (see book review, p. 44) once many years ago when Rhode Island Sea Grant invited him to give a talk on sharks at the Audubon Environmental Education Center in Bristol. The projector that we brought wouldn’t connect to his laptop. Someone drove to nearby Roger Williams University to bring him another one, and while we waited the 20 minutes or so for it to arrive, Skomal sat on the projector table and told funny stories to pass the time.

I remember his improvisation more than the talk itself since that public speaking snafu would have been my worst nightmare. So when I read his memoir and found that he was naturally quite shy, and had to work hard to overcome that tendency to make friends with recreational fishermen and Martha’s Vineyard locals so he could do his job, I was surprised.

And yet everyone in this issue has done something similar. Whether they are advocates, researchers, artists, teachers, or some combination of those vocations, their persistence has defined them as champions for sharing knowledge, empowering others, improving the environment, and improving society. Or, to paraphrase Chuck Norris, “Whatever luck they had, they made.”