Catching up with the “Mailbox Lady” – Denise Stoughton

Last June we published an article on a new Facebook Group called Uniquely Bainbridge/Fabulous Mailboxes and Other Interesting Totems, which was created by interior designer, artist and writer, Denise Stoughton.

A little background on Denise’s fascination with mailboxes: Denise frequently noticed and admired several creative mailboxes on her daily walks with her dogs, “I’d look at an unusual box and think wow, someone put a ton of effort into creating that, why? Who would do that?” she told me. “Plus, there are just so many, I wondered, is it a ‘thing’ on the island?”

When it comes to creativity, Denise is an obsessive observationalist and the mailboxes had captured her attention and imagination. In April 2022 she decided to start a project revolving around the mailboxes and the people and stories that brought them to life. In addition to the Facebook page, Denise is working on a book, which is tentatively titled “The Fabulous Mailboxes of Bainbridge Island”.

To get her project started, she posted a query about the unique mailboxes on Bainbridge Islanders Facebook page, asking for leads—and she got them, lots and lots of them. Now, more than six months later, Denise has written more than 50 mailbox essays, telling their stories with accompanying pictures, which she’s published on her Uniquely Bainbridge Facebook page. But it hasn’t stopped there…

Getting the book started…Since she didn’t know anything about publishing a book, she relied on the advice of others, consulting Maureen McQuerry, a local writer, who she’d taken a writing class from at Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN). “I loved her practical approach to writing and tapped her for anything she could tell me – I’m glad I did! Among many great suggestions, Maureen also suggested I self-publish as this is a local interest gift book and so I am.,” Denise said. However, as a self-funded project, she quickly realized she would need additional financial support, and decided to create a GoFundMe to assist in the publication costs. It was a good decision, and as she noted, “every donation is meaningful!”

Denise also recruited Lee Eiseman, who is a color specialist and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, and a former Bainbridge Islander, to write the foreword for the new book.

On “almost” getting arrested…In order to find all these mailboxes, Denise spends a lot of time driving slowly and methodically around the island in search of creative mailboxes, and in our June article she jokingly said, “I want everyone to know I’m in a white VW Beetle, don’t call 911.” However, as she noted, it really was just a matter of time before someone did call them. On a sunny September day, she found herself on Arrow Point Road surrounded by two of the four patrol cars that were out looking for her.

“Even though I anticipated this when it actually happened, my heart was racing and I can attest Officer Bill Shields can be very imposing when he wants to be, after all mail theft is a federal offense!” she recalled. Once she explained the situation, Denise and the officers had a good laugh about it, with one officer exclaiming, “This is so Bainbridge! This is the most Bainbridge thing to happen to me on duty in months!”

After collecting herself, she asked if she could get a selfie with the officers, then rushed home and wrote the whole experience up for an article in the Bainbridge Review (she’s a contributing writer for them). Since then, whenever she’s out searching for mailboxes, people will stop and ask if she’s the “Mailbox Lady” (which she just loves!).

Photographs and Illustrations…Denise had initially planned on using a professional photographer for the book, but after discussing the plan with a few local photographers she was told her iPhone pictures were as good as any they’d take, so why bother with the expense—and as an avid follower of her Facebook page, I’d have to agree. But why stop there? “Over time the mailboxes seemed to come alive with personality not unlike characters out of a book,” she said. “Regarding them in this animated way I felt they naturally lent themselves to being artistically rendered.”

She started researching local illustrators, but quickly realized their work was so recognizable that it might detract from the uniqueness she wanted to convey.  Scouring her Instagram connections, she came across Shelley Wallace Ylst, an artist living in Utah . . .

To read the whole article head over to The Island Wanderer Blog