written by workers of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the state of Maine, sponsored by the Maine Development Commission ...
Travel just a few miles beyond Acadia National Park and you will find a little known and seldom visited patchwork of quaint fishing villages, rocky coastlines, wild blueberry fields, and vast stretches of forestland reaching all the way to the Canadian border, a hundred miles away. Beyond Acadia: Exploring the Bold Coast of Down East Maine is a travel guide that brings together, for the first time, the amazing opportunities to enjoy a day or a week in Down East Maine, leaving the crowds and traffic of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island behind. Here you will find trails on The Bold Coast overlooking cliffs that plunge a hundred feet to the crashing surf below, quiet country roads winding through the forest, picturesque villages, art galleries, breweries, wineries, farm stands, campgrounds and inns. What you won’t find are t-shirt shops, traffic jams, or overcrowded hiking trails. Beyond Acadia is an engaging and informative guide to this relatively undiscovered area east of Ellsworth and Winter Harbor, stretching to the Canadian border. Compelling photos, clear maps and an easy to understand format will make the book indispensable for people who long to take their Maine experience “beyond Acadia,” both literally and figuratively.
In Downeast, Gigi Georges follows five girls as they come of age in one of the most challenging and geographically isolated regions on the Eastern seaboard. Their stories reveal surprising truths about rural America and offer hope for its future. “It’s almost impossible not to care about these fierce young women and cheer for their hard-won successes” (Kirkus) in this “heartfelt portrait” and “worthy tribute” (Publishers Weekly). Nestled in Maine’s far northeast corner, Washington County sits an hour’s drive from the heart of famed and bustling Acadia National Park. Yet it’s a world away. For Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie—five teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region—it is home. Downeast follows their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times, creating a nuanced and unique portrait of rural America with women at its center. Willow lives in the shadow of an abusive, drug-addicted father and searches for stability through photography and love. Vivian, a gifted writer, feels stifled by her church and town, and struggles to break free without severing family ties. Mckenna is a softball pitching phenom whose passion is the lobster-fishing she learned at her father’s knee. Audrey is a beloved high school basketball star who earns a coveted college scholarship but questions her chosen path. Josie, a Yale-bound valedictorian, is determined to take the world by storm. All five girls know the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction. As the girls reach adulthood, they discover that despite significant challenges, there is much to celebrate in “the valley of the overlooked.” Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature’s rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home. Revealed through the eyes of Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie, Downeast is based on four years of intimate reporting. The result is a beautifully rendered, emotionally startling, and vital book. Downeast will break readers’ hearts yet offer them hope, providing answers to what the future may hold for rural America.
In This Comprehensive Tome, Oliver brings the traditions and recipes of generations of Maine home cooks to life. Peppered with funny and useful advice from her island kitchen and garden, this book is chock-full of wisdom and stories. Whether you need a quick weekday meal or are indulging in a verified New England feast, the more than one hundred and fifty recipes are a delicious way to eat well and experience the culinary heritage of Maine. Book jacket.
A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated overview to the birds of Maine The first comprehensive overview of Maine’s incredibly rich birdlife in more than seven decades, Birds of Maine is a detailed account of all 464 species recorded in the Pine Tree State. It is also a thoroughly researched, accessible portrait of a region undergoing rapid changes, with southern birds pushing north, northern birds expanding south, and once-absent natives like Atlantic Puffins brought back by innovative conservation techniques pioneered in Maine. Written by the late Peter Vickery in cooperation with a team of leading ornithologists, this guide offers a detailed look at the state’s dynamic avifauna—from the Wild Turkey to the Arctic Tern—with information on migration patterns and timing, current status and changes in bird abundance and distribution, and how Maine's geography and shifting climate mold its birdlife. It delves into the conservation status for Maine's birds, as well as the state's unusually textured ornithological history, involving such famous names as John James Audubon and Theodore Roosevelt, and home-grown experts like Cordelia Stanwood and Ralph Palmer. Sidebars explore diverse topics, including the Old Sow whirlpool that draws multitudes of seabirds and the famed Monhegan Island, a mecca for migrant birds. Gorgeously illustrated with watercolors by Lars Jonsson and scores of line drawings by Barry Van Dusen, Birds of Maine is a remarkable guide that birders will rely on for decades to come. Copublished with the Nuttall Ornithological Club
"On behalf of Maine's Department of Conservation, a master Maine guide introduces the free amenities of the nearly one million acres of Maine's public lands, including hunting and fishing, with advice on how to prepare for a visit to the North Maine Woods"--Provided by publisher.
In this meditation on religion and science, Lightman explores the tension between our yearning for permanence and certainty, and the modern scientific discoveries that demonstrate the impermanent and uncertain nature of the world. As a physicist, he has always held a scientific view of the world. But one summer evening, while looking at the stars from a small boat at sea he was overcome by the sensation that he was merging with a grand and eternal unity, a hint of something absolute and immaterial. This is his exploration of these seemingly contradictory impulses, and the journey along the different paths of religion and science that become part of his quest. -- adapted from publisher info.
“Woodsqueer” is sometimes used to describe the mindset of a person who has taken to the wild for an extended period of time. Gretchen Legler is no stranger to life away from the rapid-fire pace of the twenty-first century, which can often lead to a kind of stir-craziness. Woodsqueer chronicles her experiences intentionally focusing on not just making a living but making a life—in this case, an agrarian one more in tune with the earth on eighty acres in backwoods Maine. Building a home with her partner, Ruth, on their farm means learning to live with solitude, endless trees, and the wild animals the couple come to welcome as family. Whether trying to outsmart their goats, calculating how much firewood they need for the winter, or bartering with neighbors for goods and services, they hone life skills brought with them (carpentry, tracking and hunting wild game) and other skills they learn along the way (animal husbandry, vegetable gardening, woodcutting). Legler’s story is at times humbling and grueling, but it is also amusing. A homage to agrarian American life echoing the back-to-the-land movement popularized in the mid-twentieth century, Woodsqueer reminds us of the benefits of living close to the land. Legler unapologetically considers what we have lost in America, in less than a century—individually and collectively—as a result of our urban, mass-produced, technology-driven lifestyles. Illustrated with rustic pen-and-ink illustrations, Woodsqueer shows the value of a solitary sojourn and both the pathway to and possibilities for making a sustainable, meaningful life on the land. The result, for Legler and her partner, is an evolution of their humanity as they become more physically, emotionally, and even spiritually connected to their land and each other in a complex ecosystem ruled by the changing seasons.
William Coperthwaite is a teacher, builder, designer, and writer who for many years hasexplored the possibilities of true simplicity on a homestead on the north coast of Maine. In the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, and Helen and Scott Nearing, Coperthwaite has fashioned a livelihood of integrity and completeness-buying almost nothing, providing for his own needs, and serving as a guide and companion to hundreds of apprentices drawn to his unique way of being. A Handmade Life carries Coperthwaite's ongoing experiments with hand tools, hand-grown and gathered food, and handmade shelter, clothing, and furnishings out into the world to challenge and inspire. His writing is both philosophical and practical, exploring themes of beauty, work, education, and design while giving instruction on the hand-crafting of the necessities of life. Richly illustrated with luminous color photographs by Peter Forbes, the book is a moving and inspirational testament to a new practice of old ways of life.
From inland peaks and forests to the bold and rocky shore, Maine provides habitat for more than 400 species of birds--roughly half of the species that can be found in all of North America. That wealth of birdlife, coupled with spectacular scenery, has ranked the state high on many birders' lists, and few have observed its loons and puffins, owls and eagles, more thoroughly than Liz and Jan Pierson and Peter Vickery. The Piersons, who have been birding together for more than twenty years, coauthored A Birder's Guide to the Coast of Maine in 1981. Deciding it was time to revise and expand the scope of that book, the Piersons spent two years in the field doing research and enlisted the help of another longtime Maine birder - avian ecologist and author Peter Vickery. The result is this fascinating and comprehensive new guide, which covers both coastal and inland areas of the state. Want to see a Willet? Need a Green Heron to cap off a bird list? Salt marshes are the place to look. Where are the best spots to watch hawks? Try York's Mt. Agamenticus or Popham Beach State Park. Broken down by region - from the waters of Biddeford Pool to the mountains of Baxter State Park - this handy book offers birders an in-depth look at the birds characteristic to the various ecosystems found in Maine. It also provides a timetable for birding as well as easy-to-follow directions to the best sites. An invaluable resource, A Birder's Guide to Maine deserves a spot next to the binoculars in any birder's backpack.