A quiet powerhouse who has had a varied life and career, it is not surprising to learn that Duncan MacDonald ran a radio show for the New York Times.

My father, Oscar E. Denniston, came to Martha’s Vineyard from the British West Indies in the year 1901. Captain Madison Edwards, the chaplain from the Seaman’s Bethel . . . used to sail between the Vineyard and Jamaica. On one of his trips he became ill over there and my father was a chaplain in a seaport area there . . . and my father assisted him, so they became very good friends.