Stephen “Steve” Estabrooks

Hi! My name is Stephen Lee Estabrooks!

I was born at a time when the only people who had cell phones were wealthy prisoners. I grew up along the waters of Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire, along with 10 siblings and cousins who traveled the country side with no apparent parental supervision. Sort of like “Lord of the Flies” only with fewer casualties. From there, the family moved to within 50 miles of the Canadian border. A winter wonderland for kids, less so for our parents.

I was always one of the top two kids in school until I moved to Concord, MA where there were more than 11 kids in a class. First, but not the last, of many shocks that helped form my view of my place in the world. I joined the Air Force at 17 and spent the next three years in England and France as an accountant (Air Force destiny determination).

After leaving Europe and my destiny behind, I attended Northeastern University in Boston for a BA & MA in biology, where my passion for scallop research took hold. I know. Then onto the University of Rhode Island, enrolling in a PhD program. 40 years later, I solved the puzzle of why our bay scallops live less than two years, while many of the 400 species of scallops can live five, 10, and 20 years or more. Has to do with something called “telomeres.” Re-prints are available.

During that time, I moved to a 12-acre farm, got married, and raised two boys. We homesteaded (means that I would rather be home instead of working) and lived off the land, built an earth-bermed house, and heated with wood.

The downside was milking the cow twice a day even when you have the flu, and somehow the wife had failed to sign up for Milking School.

Marine biology does not pay well, and so I also worked in hospital laboratories, ending up on the island of Nantucket, where I continued my research, taught courses on advanced biology, Whales, chemistry, criminal investigations, and marine biology to high school students.

And then, I finally reached the point when Northerners wake up and realize that they don’t have to live like this. And so, here I am.

I had been a member of the UU on Nantucket and I’m continuing my search to find out just how we were able to get tax-exempt status as a real religion. And most importantly, it was here at UUCOB, that I met the lovely Ludy Goodson and the saga continues.

We spent our first Christmas together in 2019! We survived Ludy’s cancer treatments for lymphoma, we are active in our UUCOB, we are on a bowling league together, play table tennis with competitive zeal, play pool with the same spirit, and sing together. We have collaborated to create the book based on my “Nantucket Bound: Little Whale’s Song,” joined with friends in recording the song, started a website for “Our Ocean Friends,” and promote the book together at local and national venues. We go on river walks and boat rides together, have fun with food, and on February 26, 2022, we will have our wedding ceremony in our UUCOB sanctuary with Reverend Kathy officiating and our circle of friends in person and on Zoom. I think we have many more adventures to come!