Welcome to Landlubber!
Landlubber is a newsletter about the water from me, Russell Jacobs. Stick around and you’ll get writing in your inbox about seaweed, seashells, sewer systems, fish, dunes, shipwrecks, chowder, and more. It’s basically a nature letter with a loose focus on coastal environments, oceans, rivers, obscure natural history, and other assorted maritime stuff.
I’ve worked on boats in some capacity or another since I was a teenager, and have a lot of experience fishing, clam-digging, crab trapping, rock flipping, oyster shucking, etc. I’ve also worked for several organizations that do coastal and maritime environmental work. I’ve overseen large-scale shoreline restoration projects, taught classes about seashells to middle-schoolers, taken high school students on overnight camping trips to see horseshoe crabs spawn, and led lots of educational programming for adults. Basically, I love the ocean and the shore and I’ve got a big soft spot for coastal lore and culture. I can’t promise that I won’t go off theme every now and then, but I can promise that I won’t ever send you a letter about politics or The News unless there’s a really obvious tie-in to the ocean or something like that.
You can also expect some food writing. While I’m definitely not the person to call if you need a recommendation for a cool restaurant in Brooklyn (although I did grow up in Brooklyn, and I worked in a restaurant in New York City restaurant for nearly six years), I am the right person to call if you happen to slip, fall backwards into a time machine, hit your head, and wake up in 1930’s New York City with an empty stomach and a couple of dollars in your pocket. I’d also be a pretty good person to call if you caught a fish, or bought one at a store, and realized you didn’t know what to do with it. I’ve caught and cooked nearly every animal you’re allowed eat in the oceans and bays around New York City and New Jersey, including some of the weird animals that nobody really eats anymore. Landlubber food letters and recipes will be about culinary traditions that touch on frayed or lost connections to the ocean.
In addition to writing about the shoreline and the water, this is a place where I share information about upcoming nature walks and other in-person programming I do around New York City (bird walks, nature cruises, classes, etc), and some of the writing I publish elsewhere. I also try to share as many coastal events and stories as I can from other organizations and people, so if you have something you want me to mention, shoot me an email and I will do my best to include it. Lastly: feel free to reach out to me here if you want to hire me as a bird guide, or are interested in purchasing a gift certificate for those services for a friend or family member.
About the Author:
Russell Jacobs is a writer and a naturalist from New York City, where he has lived his entire life. In addition to writing, he works in coastal restoration, environmental education, and ecology.
