Maine Writers: Yesterday & Today

Addendum to Part 1: Contemporary Authors

Richard Ford

Richard Ford (theguardian.com)

The author of short stories, novels, and nonfiction, Richard Ford is probably best known for his four novels featuring Frank Bascombe.  Bascombe first appears in The Sportswriter (1986) and next in Ford’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, Independence Daypublished in 1995, then in two later novels.  I read and very much enjoyed Independence Day.  Richard Ford lives in Boothbay; fellow Mainer Richard Russo lives in Portland.  In my last post, I erred on Russo’s residence, and it was Ford who was recommended for inclusion in my blog by my friend.

Lily King

Lily King (panmacmillan.com.au)

When browsing in Print, a Portland bookstore I like, I discovered that another favorite author, Lily King, lives in Maine.  In Portland, in fact.  Her earlier award-winning novel, Euphoria, loosely based on Margaret Mead and some of her colleagues, was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by the New York Times.  I loved that novel of relationships and more recently, enjoyed Writers & Lovers, a coming into age and love story set in the familiar, to me, Cambridge environs.  King’s first book of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter, comes out this fall

MAINE AUTHORS  Part 2: Writers of Long Ago

William Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Henry W. Longfellow (mount auburn.org)

There was a time when every 7th or 8th grade English class read Evangeline, one of Longfellow’s long poems.  And many school children also read or heard Paul Revere’s Ride as part of learning about the Revolutionary War.  Longfellow also wrote the epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha (1855)about a Native American chief.  A writer, traveler, and linguist, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an important figure in 19th century America.  Born in Portland, he grew up and lived for thirty years in a house that today is a museum.  The Chief Penguin and I toured the house several years ago and enjoyed learning more about his life and his family.

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909)

Sarah Orne Jewett (peoplepill.com)

Sarah Orne Jewett was a novelist and short story writer known for literary regionalism.  She put more stock in descriptions of country life than in plot.  Her best-known work is probably the novella, The Country of the Pointed Firspublished in 1896. I read this book years ago with the library book group at Penn.  Other noted works are A Country Doctor and A White Heron.  She was born and died in South Berwick near the Maine coast and was the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin College in 1901.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Rachel Carson (smithsonianmag.com)

A marine biologist, writer, and later conservationistRachel Carson’s most popular work is Silent Spring (1962) about the harmful effects of insecticide spraying.  An earlier work, The Sea Around Us (1951), won a National Book Award.  Carson was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Maryland for some years, but she summered for 12 years on Southport Island.  We have gone to Southport every year for the past 30 years.  I always pause to read the plaque to Carson at the Newagen Seaside Inn where she was a frequent guest.  After her death, her ashes were scattered into the sea from here.  

E. B. White (1899-1985)

E. B. White (historylink.org)

E. B. White, a noted author of essays and children’s books, also wrote poems and brief sketches.  He was a reporter and freelance writer before joining the staff of the New Yorker in 1927. Born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., he lived and worked in North Brooklin, Maine, sending in his regular columns and pieces from there.  I have fond recollections of my father first reading Stuart Little to me.  Our third-grade teacher read Charlotte’s Web to us, and I read it again later for myself.  It’s my favorite of his children’s works.  White also revised Strunk’s The Elements of Style which became a bible for aspiring writers.  White was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom and also a special Pulitzer Prize citation.

May Sarton (1912-1995)

May Sarton (goodreads.com)

Belgian-American by birth, May Sarton was a poet, novelist, and memoirist.  When a child, she and her parents moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. She lived there and in New Hampshire before spending the last five years of her life in York, Maine.  Sarton was a prolific writer and considered by some, Carolyn Heilbrun for one, to be a pioneer in the field of women’s autobiography. Heilbrun cited the publication of Journal of a Solitude in 1973.  Some years ago, I binge read quite a few of her novels and memoirs.  Ones that stand out are Shadow of a Man, The Magnificent Spinster, and Endgame: A Journal of the Seventy-ninth Year.  Sarton brought a laser focus and a very personal perspective to issues of friendship and love and the vagaries of aging.

A NOTE ON PORTLAND BOOKSTORES

Portland, Maine supports three notable independent bookstores, each of which is worth a visit.  Probably the best known is Sherman’s on Exchange Street which is just one of about five stores in this group.  Sherman’s began in Bangor and has a big presence in Boothbay Harbor, with other stores in Camden, Damariscotta, and Freeport.  They sell lots of new books, but its larger stores are also a source for children’s toys and games, some housewares, along with stationery and other paper goods.  

(Facebook.com)

Longfellow Books, centrally located in Monument Square, has been around for about 20 years and is spacious and inviting with attractive storefront windows.  During the pandemic, they were closed except for curbside pick-up, but in recent months have more fully opened.  These folks are passionate about books and stock new titles plus used ones and have an especially colorful children’s corner.  When browsing, I always find a title here that I’ve not seen elsewhere.  Magazines and a good selection of note cards round out their offerings.

Print, located on Congress Street in the East End, is the newest sibling in the neighborhood, having opened in 2016.  Its co-owners bring a wealth of bookselling experience and are also the offspring of writer parents.  One, Emily Russo, is the daughter of Richard Russo. Print is cozy and welcoming (I was greeted as soon as I stepped through the door) with a well-chosen selection of current fiction and nonfiction, sections on Maine writers, and a slew of cooking and baking books, especially about pies. For its size, they have an impressive section of middle reader books.  My 9-year-old granddaughter is a voracious reader, so I’m always on the lookout for books for her.

Attracting readers and providing great customer service are hallmarks of what keeps a bookstore in business.  To some extent, each of these stores has book signings and author talks and will order books not in stock upon request.  Some also publish free e-mail newsletters. There is no requirement to live nearby to receive their e-mails.  I receive Longfellow Books’ weekly update on recommended new titles out in hardback and paper and also a quarterly e-mail from Three Lives & Company in New York.  These newsletters are a fun and easy way to learn about what’s new and get the opinions of various bookstore staff.

Note: Header photo of Maine’s waters ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Maine Writers Today

COMETH FALL

Afternoon light on Little Christmas Cove

The past few days have been breezy and cool with some sun.  The light is different, the air is clearer and drier.  Fall is sneaking up on us.  Masses of goldenrod line the roadway and here and there a lone red maple leaf lies in the dirt.  I see only tall pines when I look around, but surely a maple tree hides somewhere about. 

The coming of fall for me always prompted a return to focused work.  I liked the sense of buckling down, tackling new projects, and turning more inward.   Autumn in the Northeast encourages this.  In a week, I’ll be back in Florida where sunny warm days invite one to linger outside, to defer serious pursuits.  Florida’s fall doesn’t ever arrive until November.  I miss the pronounced change of seasons.

Richard Russo (authorsguild.org)

MAINE AUTHORS

Part 1:  Contemporary Writers

One of my regular readers reminded me that novelist Richard Russo lives in Maine in the Boothbay region and encouraged me to mention this in a blog post.  Russo won a Pulitzer for Empire Falls, which is probably his best-known work.  I’ve not read that one, but have read his first novel, Mohawkand highly recommend Bridge of Sighspublished in 2007.  A 60-year-old man who’s lived all his life in a small-town, travels to Italy, partly to visit a childhood friend who escaped to the wider world.  It’s an expansive, totally engaging book as Charles Lacy and his wife embark on an odyssey of adventure and reflection.  Much of Russo’s writing is semi-autobiographical in nature.

Stephen King is undoubtedly Maine’s most famous and probably most read author.  He lives in Bangor, but spends winters in Sarasota, Florida.  Consequently, his book signings and appearances are regularly announced in my local newspaper.  I am not a fan of either horror or supernatural novels and admit to never having read him.  Author of 53 novels, with his best seller being The Shining from 1977, each new book is greeted with long lines of eager purchasers.  

Stephen King (nme.com)

Without a doubt, my favorite contemporary Maine author is another Pulitzer Prize winner, Elizabeth Strout.  I have read many of her novels from the first one, Amy and Isabelle about a mother’s fraught relationship with her teenage daughter to Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton to Olive, Again.  Strout delineates the complexities of small-town life for those with meager means and limited opportunities.  The Olive books are sort of linked short stories with some characters appearing more than once. The second book finds Olive dealing with the exigencies of aging.   She is a sometimes crochety and cantankerous woman, but offers occasional doses of compassion.  I found her an intriguing companion.

Elizabeth Strout (goodreads.com)

On a different note, Paul Doiron explores backwoods Maine in his crime series about a game warden named Mike Bowditch.  A former editor of Down East Magazine, Doiron has now penned twelve novels in the series. A few years ago, I read his first book, The Poacher’s Son, and gained an appreciation for aspects of rural life in Maine that many tourists don’t experience.  Doiron lives in Camden.

(pauldoiron.com)

Another current Maine writer, whose books I have noted on bookstore shelves, is Tess Gerritsen.  Researching her for this blog, I discovered she has both an interesting heritage and an unusual path to authordom.  Born in San Diego, she’s the daughter of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese American chef.  Prompted by her parents, she pursued a career in medicine and became a general physician.  Early on, she liked reading romance novels and so tried her hand at writing and publishing a short story.  Initially she wrote romantic thrillers and then medical thrillers and more recently, a police detective and medical examiner series called Rizzoli and Isles.  Prolific in output, her books have sold more than 25 million copies!  Gerritsen also lives in Camden.  What have I been missing?

Tess Gerritsen (amazon.com)

Who are your favorite Maine authors? What do you prefer reading, fiction or nonfiction? If fiction, which genres?

Note: Nature photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Maine Days: Blossoms & Book

GARDENS

ABUNDANT BLOOMS

If I were asked to name the most common flowers in this part of Maine, it would be daylilies and black-eyed Susans. Native to North America, Black-eyed Susans or Rudbeckia hirta are now found in the lower 48 states.

 A close third would be the many varieties of cone flowers.  

We made another visit to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this week.  After checking off another troll on our list (we’ve seen three of the five), we enjoyed wandering in the children’s garden and through the senses garden.  Everything seemed especially lush and leafed out (probably all the rain here in July) and as always, it was lovely.

Here on Southport, there are daylilies in the garden and when we walk the neighborhood, we spy more of them.  Especially prevalent are the yellow and cream ones.  

Cream daylilies at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

CHALLENGED DETECTIVE

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert K. Galbraith

I missed some of the hoopla when J. K. Rowling published her first crime novel as Robert K. Galbraith.  I’m only now discovering this work, thanks to the recommendations of Patricia and Rebecca.  The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first of five novels featuring detective Cormoran Strike.  Strike is a former soldier who served in Afghanistan.  At the outset, he is hard up, soon to be homeless, and slowed down by the loss of part of one leg in the war.  After the apparent suicide of Lula, a famous model, Strike is hired by the model’s stepbrother to investigate her death.  His new temp Robin is efficient, motivated, and tactful in ignoring the travails of Strike’s personal life. Together they wind their way through false leads and questionable tactics to arrive at the truth.

I enjoyed getting to know both Cormoran and Robin but was less taken with the unsavory characters of the celebrity world.  The book is very well-written (one probably wouldn’t expect any less) and clever, but long.  I picked it up and put it down and then resumed.  The more I got into it, the more I found it satisfying and engaging.  Therefore, after a break, I will probably read the next title in the series.  

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Maine Moments: Fare for Body & Mind

LOBSTER ROLLS

Last year we were disappointed in the lobster rolls we ordered, no one of them was outstanding.  Not only is the amount and type of lobster important, having the right kind of roll (split hot dog bun toasted) is key. On our quest this year for a great lobster roll, we are more pleased.

According to Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, “the lobster roll originated as a hot dish at a restaurant named Perry’s in Milford, Connecticut, as early as 1929. Its popularity then spread up and down the Connecticut coast, but not far beyond it. In Connecticut, the sandwich served warm is called a ‘lobster roll’; served cold, a ‘lobster salad roll.'”

Lobster rolls eventually spread beyond Connecticut and today are a New England favorite particularly associated with the state of Maine.  Anyone who cares about lobster has surely heard of the award-winning Red’s Eats in Wiscasset. Red’s has a great PR operation in addition to offering huge lobster rolls.  They started serving their lobster rolls as far back as 1970.  Drive by today and there is usually a line of eager eaters, often a long line, waiting to order.  A confession, I’ve never had a Red’s roll. 

We had very good cold lobster rolls at Coastal Prime last week and the other day at Harborside 1901.  We had intended to try Shannon’s Unshelled, an outdoor shack with picnic tables located near the Boothbay Harbor footbridge, but they were delayed in opening.  And it was very hot out.  We thought that the Tugboat Inn started lunch and lobster rolls around 11:00, but they didn’t open until 12.  Our last option, apart from waiting for Shannon’s to go live, was Harborside.  

Harborside lobster roll & cole slaw

We’d eaten there a few weeks ago but didn’t order lobster that time.  This was the day, and this lobster roll was probably the best all-around I’ve had this year!  Before we end our Maine time, however, we will try Shannon’s on a cooler day. After all, she advertises lobster from trap to table.

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

IMMIGRANT SCIENTIST

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Author Gyasi (penguinrandomhouse.com)

I was very taken with Gyasi’s first novel, Homegoing, even though it was a challenging read.  This novel about the immigrant experience is much more accessible and straightforward.  Gifty is a Ghanaian immigrant who moves to Huntsville, Alabama with her mother and brother.  Told in the first person, Gifty looks back on her early childhood in Ghana and then how she and her family stood out in the white South.  She is a Ph.D student in neuroscience at Stanford, obviously successful academically, but struggling to come to grips with her brother’s death from a drug overdose.  At the same time, her mother, deep in depression, is staying with Gifty.  

Gifty is a scientist, but she’s also a product of evangelical Christianity who puzzles over questions of faith.  She reflects on how the hymns and Bible stories taken literally as a child might become meaningful in a different way as an adult.  Her research with mice on reward-seeking behavior grows out of her strong desire to understand her brother and her mother.

In many ways, this is a quiet novel.  And although it’s Gifty’s voice the reader hears, she keeps herself at a bit of a remove as if she needs what appears as detachment to process her extreme grief.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

FRIENDS AND LOVERS IN ITALY

Lizzie & Dante by Mary Bly

Just as classical musicians sometimes transition to pop music, so authors of one genre take up a different genre, often with a pen name.  J. K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame wrote as Robert Galbraith when introducing a new detective series for adults.  So successful was the first Cormoran Strike mystery, The Cuckoo’s Calling,that she wrote four more.  I have just started this series but am reserving judgement until I finish the first book.

Mary Bly is a professor and Shakespeare scholar at Fordham University.  Some years ago, she began writing historical romances set in the Georgian era in England under the name, Eloisa James.  She purposely used a pseudonym to not intrude upon her academic reputation.  These books gained wide readership and after a while, she revealed her identity.  

This novel is set in the present and the first one published under her real name. Thirty-two-year-old Lizzie is a professor and cancer patient who travels to Italy with two male friends, a novelist and an actor, to assist with research for a film of Romeo and Juliet. There she quickly meets Italian chef Dante, who has a 12-year-old daughter.  

Lizzie and Dante are the center of this love story, but not the entire focus.  One element is Lizzie’s reflections on what approach to take to living her life. Other elements, which add to the novel’s richness, are the rounded depiction of the secondary characters, Grey, Rohan, Etta, and Ruby, and the role that singing and poetry play in their individual lives.  A quick read! (~JWFarrington)

Note: Lobster roll photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).