Flags flew at half-staff this week as Menemsha businesses honored Everett Poole who died on Monday.

In the early 1970s, I spent summers working at Poole’s Fish Market in Menemsha.

Everett Poole, a man of few but essential words who personified a way of life on the Menemsha waterfront, died Monday, Feb. 21 at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. He was 91.

Mr. Poole, who is 90 and has held the elected post for more than 40 years, announced his decision in an email to the selectmen Monday, town administrator Tim Carroll said.

At 87, Everett Poole is still working hard at his chandlery in Menemsha, where he has chosen to hold onto the old ways.

From his perch in Poole's Fish Market, which he ran for half a
century, Captain Everett H. Poole watched Menemsha harbor fade from
being one of the busiest fishing ports on the East Coast.