Vineyard-born author A.F. Cook (known to many Islanders as the artist Anne Cook) recently published her first book, Democrats in the Red Zone: an Independent Voter’s Take on the Game of Political Perception. The book looks at the Democratic Party’s strategic failures through the lens of a football fan — specifically, a longtime New England Patriots fan.

CROSSED, a Tale of the Fourth Crusade. By Nicole Galland. Harper Paperbacks, New York, N.Y. 2008. 641 pages. $15.95 softcover.

Blending history with humor is a great way to communicate and Vineyard native Nicole Galland achieves this tender mix in her latest novel, Crossed, A Tale of the Fourth Crusade, in which she brings to life a disastrous medieval holy war.

The Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund presents Securing a Future for Coastal Fishing Communities: Ideas from Eastern Maine on Wednesday, May 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.

Robin Alden, executive director of the Penobscot East Resource Center and former Maine commissioner of marine resources, and Ted Ames, life-long commercial fisherman, scientist and 2005 winner of a MacArthur Fellows Program award, will share their work.

Quest Martha’s Vineyard has scheduled a two-day village quest workshop on May 28 and 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sail Martha’s Vineyard building on upper Main street, Vineyard Haven.

This workshop with Steve Glazer and members of the Quest MV program will give participants the skills to create community treasure hunts (known as quests) while understanding the role of community history in place-based education.

The Chilmark School and Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will be concluding this year’s inter-generational program with their annual photography show, called Growing Up Island.

Once again, the students were “buddied up” with Windemere residents in the fall. The students are given cameras (through a grant from the Permanent Endowment Fund) and asked to take photographs of their own lives. They bring their photographs down to Windemere when they visit their buddies each month.

The Permanent Endowment Fund for Martha’s Vineyard has announced its spring grant recipients with a total of $45,000 awarded to 14 Island organizations.