Meet Keith and Hugh

Great Stories And Amazing Humans

Today and tomorrow, a special treat - a strange mix of people and stories that happened to come together for me that I want to share with you all. The people happen to be two of my favorites, two lovely and likable humans named Keith Spiro and Hugh Dunphy. The stories are also two of my favorites, Mount Washington and the end of World War 2.

Back in 2019, I met and wrote a story about Hugh, a former Xerox salesman who switched careers to become a frozen cod salesman. Hugh’s claim to fame (at least to me) was that he was the one who suggested to his company, Fisheries Products Ltd., that the cod fillets be cut into prime strips, or fish sticks. Yup, in my book, Hugh’s the guy who invented fish sticks.

Fourteen year old Hugh also happened to be at the summit of Mount Washington on Aug. 14, 1945 when word of the Japanese surrender reached the summit.

You’ll read THAT story tomorrow.

Today, I want to tell you about another good friend of mine, Keith Spiro, and let HIM tell you another great story about Hugh. Because just this week, Hugh was honored with the famous Boston Post Cane in West Bath, Maine for - basically - living the longest!

Hold that thought.

I’ve known Keith a looooong time, mainly through my journalism days with The Hippo in New Hampshire. Keith’s a fantastic photographer, writer and reporter. He produces a cool podcast called Communicast where he interviews local businesses and people doing good things. Like I try to do here, Keith is focused on humans making positive connections and trying to do good things for each other and for their communities.

A million years ago, Keith had me on his show and you can watch that here if you like, we had a great chat! Dan on Keith’s Show

Here’s Keith’s website, I strongly recommend giving his work a look: Keith Spiro Media

So, everything came together this week when Keith let me know that Hugh, at 94 years young, was awarded the coveted Boston Post Cane for being West Bath, Maine’s oldest resident. Keith was at the ceremony and wrote the story for The Cryer, the local newspaper of those parts.

Here’s a jpg of the story from the newspaper, click on and zoom in for Keith’s nice story on Hugh.

The paper even printed a photo Keith took of my first meeting with Hugh back in 2019. You can read Keith’s story about the tradition behind the Boston Post Cane.

Incidentally, Hugh’s wife, Evelyn, is a truly wonderful watercolor artist. I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer you all a link to go look at her work, it’s jaw-dropping: Website of Evelyn Dunphy

So, that gives you three things to do today, read about Hugh, and then check out Keith and Evelyn’s work. You’ll be glad you did.

Tomorrow, I’ll re-print the incredible story of Hugh Dunphy’s life-changing Mount Washington hike. Stay tuned for that!