Maine authors Archives - JOTS & JAUNTS

Addendum to Part 1: Contemporary Authors

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 Day, published 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

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)

There was a time when every 7^th or 8^th 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 19^th 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 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 Firs, published 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)

A marine biologist, writer, and later conservationist, Rachel 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, 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)

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.

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).

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.

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, Mohawk, and highly recommend Bridge of Sighs, published 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.

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.

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.

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?

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

Tag: Maine authors

Maine Writers: Yesterday & Today