Editor's Letter
There are few places where summer is relished as much as in New England, and few years when it has been as fervently anticipated. In this issue, we help you to enjoy it to its fullest, with tips on what to wear, how to entertain, and where to eat. Bring the magazine to the ocean with you — though be forewarned that once you relive the making of the movie Jaws on Martha's Vineyard with us, you might not want to go in.
It's to the Vineyard that we'll take you for our summer entertaining guide, where a fashion designer and an island chef share tips for the perfectly cooked, perfectly crafted outdoor dinner party (“Elements of Style,” page 118). You'll find more summer dining advice in our “Food & Drink” section, which expands this month with the addition of recipes, profiles of tastemakers, and more restaurants than ever in the city's most authoritative listings, indexed not only by name and location, but also by which ones serve Sunday brunch or offer outdoor seating. This month: Linda Greenlaw, fisherwoman and author, cracks open the ultimate advice about lobster (“For the Love of Lobster,” page 180). And in our summer fashion package, we'll show you the hottest styles modeled by local college students enjoying some last summer flings (“One Crazy Summer,” page 134).
Is religion becoming a part of your work life? That's the intention of a Boston-based group of evangelicals whose thousands of members hold jobs at the highest levels of some of the city's biggest corporations (“Jesus @ Work,” page 142). Should religion stay out of the office? Or be welcomed in? Also in this issue, we profile some high-school kids whose religion is technology. Follow the Nu-trons with us into the weird world of the robotics competition (“We, Robot,” page 55). You'll also read this month about a charming former Harvard professor now accused of trying to sell forged works of art to the cream of Boston society (“The Artful Dodger,” page 91).
Then there's that recap of the making of Jaws, a film whose influence was vast and enduring. This month, locals, writers, producers, and members of the cast remember how it all began with bad New England weather, cost overruns, and a mechanical shark the crew named Bruce (“A Shark's Tale,” page 126).
Filmmaking may be on the wane in Boston, mired as it is in politics and feuding, but arts and culture are preeminent here. We reflect that in this issue by moving our arts and entertainment section from the back of the magazine to the front and launching an innovative e-newsletter called “The Agenda” that you can have delivered to your desktop every Wednesday listing hundreds of events as fresh as Linda Greenlaw's lobsters. Sign up for it for free at bostonmagazine.com for a chance to win one of 10 Jaws 30th-anniversary DVDs. — Jon Marcus, editor