Farewell, My Lobster Queen

"I first found out about the legend that is Virginia Oliver in 2021 while walking through Copley Square in Boston. The Boston Press Photographers Association had a Photos of the Year display, and one of them, captured by the Boston Globe 's Jessica Rinaldi, featured Oliver standing in a boat wearing a heavy-duty fisher's apron. She was holding a ruler in one hand and hurling a lobster out of the vessel in the other."

"and later read the accompanying Globe piece that profiled her work as a lobsterwoman. Known across the world as the "Lobster Lady," Olivia was a Maine legend recognized for her bright lipstick, loud earrings, and bad-ass lobstering. She died at the age of 105 on Jan. 21 in a hospital near Rockport, Maine, where she grew up and spent her life."

"Oliver spent 80 years trapping crustaceans across the Gulf of Maine, an arduous job that requires predawn hours, patience, and grit (lobster season takes place from June to December in New England, and requires a 2:30 a.m. start time). She was born to two lobster dealers before beginning to fish at the age of eight, and she began lobstering when very few women worked in the industry."

Virginia Oliver spent 80 years trapping lobsters across the Gulf of Maine, working predawn hours in arduous conditions. Lobster season runs from June to December and required a 2:30 a.m. start. She began fishing at age eight after being born to two lobster dealers and entered an industry with very few women. Known as the "Lobster Lady," she favored bright lipstick, loud earrings, and tough lobstering. She did not receive her first bite until she was 100, when a crab required seven stitches. She was 101 when recognized as the oldest licensed lobsterer in Maine and wanted to continue working into her later years. She died at 105 near Rockport, Maine.

Read at Jezebel