Faces Of Nantucket: Tony Edwards

Faces of Nantucket: Tony Edwards

Years on the island: 24 years

Favorite things about Nantucket: "What blew me away initially about the island is it's one of the safest places in the country. When I first got here, people could leave their houses unlocked, and nobody would come in and do anything or steal anything. My wife, she forgot her pocketbook with all her credit cards in the Stop & Shop cart, and we got it back, you know? Coming from Jamaica, we love the hometown feel, you know? The sense of community that's here."

Visitors arriving on Nantucket are greeted by a fleet of taxis and Ubers. But one driver typically stands out from the rest.

Tony Edwards, a transplant from Jamaica, greets his passengers donning a captain's hat, a navy blazer, and a big smile.

"I never knew how many people love a captain's hat until I got mine," he said with a laugh. "I'll be outside standing, and people be honking and waving, 'Love your hat!' you know? So it's a great little experience." 

It may be a fun gimmick, but Edwards - or Captain Tony as he is sometimes called - takes the job seriously and tries to give his passengers a great experience. Driving for Julia Morash's "Crabby Cabby," Edwards keeps his taxi clean, finds the best route to a destination around the summer traffic, and sees himself as an ambassador for the island, answering questions and giving advice on the best places to see on Nantucket.

"It's a catchy name," he says of "Crabby Cabby. "I tell people, 'I'm crabby, but not crappy'."

Edwards first came to Nantucket from Jamaica on an H2B visa in 2000, taking a job at the White Elephant. It took him a few years to adjust to the island culture - and the water temperatures - but Nantucket soon became his home. He started extending his stay beyond the typical eight-month working season and soon met his wife on the island. She is from Jamaica too, but the couple never met until they connected on Nantucket.

"I call it destiny," Edwards says of his decision to come to the island from Jamaica.

Another fateful encounter for Edwards happened years ago on Nantucket when he was driving his taxi during a busy Memorial Day weekend.

"There were a bunch of bachelorette girls, and I picked them up at the boat," he recalled. "One person didn't show up, so they gave me one of the captain's hats they were all wearing, and I became the official driver for the weekend. So, you know, it was kind of festive for the weekend. After the weekend, I took it off and said, 'Okay, that's it. I'm going to throw it down.' But even the cops, they said, 'Hey, what happened to your captain's hat?' So I officially became 'Captain Tony'."

And he's been wearing the hat ever since.

"It has gotten so competitive; there are a lot of cabs," he said. "I thought, 'What can I do to be different?' Right? You know, stick out from the crowd? So I said, 'Okay, I'm gonna dress different. So in the summer, I'll be in my shorts and my jacket or blazer, and my captain's hat... You've got to do those things to compete with the Ubers and all the other taxis to keep up the game."

Over the years, Edwards has driven hundreds of miles around the island, and provided transportation to everyone from commuting works to Hollywood's A-list.

"One of my most memorable passengers was Robert De Niro," he said. "I picked him up at the airport and took him down to the Brant Point Grille at the White Elephant for lunch."

Back when Edwards started driving on Nantucket, there was no GPS, and he was still learning the island's maze of streets and dirt roads. He would navigate by using a yellow street atlas book. On his days off, Edwards would get on a bicycle and ride around looking at all the street signs, searching for shortcuts to find the quickest route between two points on the island. He also credited another cab driver, Ken Murray, for showing him the way.

"He taught me a lot about the car business and how to navigate the island," Edwards said. "That's how I gained my knowledge of Nantucket."

Despite driving for other cab owners for more than a decade, Edwards is still on the waitlist to receive his own taxi license from the town. He had been on the list for years and was close to the top when his mother fell ill in Jamaica, and he forgot to renew his standing on the wait list and got kicked off. So when he returned to Nantucket, he went back to the end of the list and now stands at No. 34. He knows that people wait years - even decades - to get one of the coveted licenses.

In the meantime, he's going to keep the captain's hat on and continue to serve as one of Nantucket's unofficial ambassadors.

"I've met so many people who are humble, nice, genuine people," he said. "I believe that every passenger that comes in should get the same level of service and cleanliness."