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by Paul St Germain (Author), Devlin Sherlock (Author)
Since 1907, one Rockport family have continued to make their timeless soda pop the old-fashioned way. Twin Lights Soda--or tonic, as it's still known locally--was started by second-generation Portuguese immigrants in the back of a small-town family grocer and named after the iconic pair of lighthouses just off the coast of Cape Ann. The bottling industry was one of America's great entrepreneurial endeavors, and at its peak, Twin Lights outsold even the two largest national cola brands in the region. But today, while soft drinks are a $45 billion industry, few independents remain. Authors Paul St. Germain and Dev Sherlock trace the fascinating story of one of the last family bottlers still in operation.
Author Biography
Paul St. Germain has been a resident of Rockport, Massachusetts, for the past twenty-five years. His interest in Cape Ann area began in 1999, when he was asked to join the Thacher Island Association Board of Directors and was eventually elected president in 2002. In 2000, he researched and wrote the successful nomination application resulting in the designation of the Cape Ann Light Station on Thacher Island as a National Historic Landmark by the Interior Department's National Park Service. He has written several books in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series: Sandy Bay Harbor of Refuge and the Navy, Cape Ann Granite, Lighthouses and Lifesaving Stations on Cape Ann and Twin Lights of Thacher Island; most recently, he wrote for The History Press Saving Straitsmouth Island: A History. A graduate of Boston University and a master's degree recipient from Northeastern University, he has held several senior-level marketing and advertising positions of major international athletic footwear and soft drink manufacturers. Devlin Sherlock is a writer, broadcaster and curator. He is also a New England native and one-time resident of Rockport. His writing has appeared in more than a dozen publications--including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Women's Health and Surfer Magazine--while he has been featured on such broadcast outlets as NPR and the BBC (UK). His career began on Cape Ann, working at the Musician Magazine offices in Gloucester in his first "real" job. He is currently music festival programmer for South by Southwest (SXSW), the global music, film and technology conference in Austin, Texas.
