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Off the Plank: The Daring Rescues of Ida Lewis

Ida Lewis poses in her boat alongside one of her beloved dogs.
Newport Historical Society
Ida Lewis poses in her boat alongside one of her beloved dogs.

A lighthouse keeper in Newport, Rhode Island, became nationally famous in the late 1800s for rescuing sailors. Her name was Ida Lewis — and she drew the attention of a sitting president and the early suffragette movement.

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.