Local Stories.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Taking Flight
“ The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.”
— Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic
Trusted Voices.
Lifelong Learning.
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I MUST ADMIT, WHEN I FIRST READ Senior Editor Lauren Clem’ s piece,“ On the Wing,” I immediately defaulted to my cynical Rhode Island“ What’ s the catch?” mode. A tech startup— a la Meta, Microsoft, Apple— that started in an apartment sets up shop in Quonset with dreams of setting the ocean transportation industry on its ear? Nah, it’ s too good to be true.
But truth, sometimes, really is stranger than fiction. REGENT’ s technology works, the company has funding, and there’ s an impressive list of global clients in waiting, including coastal Florida, the Bahamas, the Hawaiian islands and the United States military.
The firm even has the support of Breeze, our favorite airline at Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport. Will we soon be able, as the founders suggest, to take a Seaglider to the Cape and islands or the Big Apple?
Tattoos. I guess I am neither a fan nor a hater. I grew up in a family where military service was expected, and therefore an array of exotic faded hula girls danced among my uncles’ brawny forearms. I also know many who have suffered a hardship or loss who commemorate the memory with a tattoo.
Digital Editor Kait Murray takes a look at different types of tattoos— from the sublime to the extreme— in“ Get Inked!,” her fascinating guide to body art in the Ocean State. She reflects on the common criticisms, like people who think tattoos are“ trashy” or ask,“ How will that look when you’ re a grandmother?”
I suspect the decision to get inked is not taken lightly by most folks, unless you want to wake up with some surprise facial adornment looking like Edward Parker Helms( aka Stuart Price) in The Hangover Part II.
And let us not forget that Rhode Island has some history with ink, well documented in the days when the Newport Naval base justified more than a few“ body artists.”
Lastly, we present to you our latest class of Bannister Award winners. These are individuals who fight for the rights of others, often toiling far from the spotlight and recognition. Kudos to our very own Lauren Clem, who runs the valued program and spotlights our winners every year.
To the Rhode ahead.— J. J. P.
ILLUSTRATION: CHERYL CHALMERS.
12 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025