Maine

But in the recent round of base closure and realignment, Maine has been even more severely affected. Brunswick Naval Air Base is slated for realignment, which in plain language means it is being reduced to a skeleton crew. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, on the other hand, is to be closed completely.

In previous months, we have learned about famous Maine artists, authors, and politicians. This month we will learn about an incredible Maine athlete, Joan Benoit Samuelson, who has equally inspired Maine’s young people to compete, to excel, and to dream.

In previous months, we have explored Maine authors like Kenneth Roberts and Mary Ellen Chase. Well, one of Chase’s contemporaries, and a woman ahead of her time, was Sara Orne Jewett. Like many of the other inspirational women of her time, Jewett did not resign herself to the traditional female role of her era. Instead, she had aspirations to become a physician—to learn and explore—to achieve success through more than just marriage and motherhood.

In prior months I have included articles on fine artists like Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth—artists who captured the essence of Maine in their paintings. This month I would like to focus on a photographer who has likewise made significant artistic contributions. Terrell S. Lester, though not a native-born Mainer, has resided in Maine since 1986, since his first visit to the Deer Isle area.

There are many noteworthy Maine people throughout history who have succeeded in creative occupations: writers, directors, and artists. One of the recent success stories is celebrity Liv Tyler. Tyler is a famous actress and native-born Mainer, whose show-business roots led her into a career on the big screen.

On November 2, 2004, Mike Michaud was re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the second congressional district of Maine. This is Michaud’s second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, though he represented the people of Maine for many years in both the Maine legislature and the Maine Senate. But who is Mike Michaud?

Mike Michaud represents Maine’s second district, which consists of the “other Maine”—the Maine that increasingly relies on seasonal and self-employment to support itself.

Where is the Yankee ingenuity and independent thinking that made Maine a unique place to live and raise a family?

I normally write about people from Maine—writers, artists, and politicians who have made a contribution to the unique way of life that is Maine. But this month, I want to talk about life in Maine and the drastic changes that have taken place over the last few years—negative changes that cry out for a strong leader with the right values. We need leaders like the ones I normally write about—people of conviction and courage—who look at the problems we are facing with old-fashioned “Yankee ingenuity”, who can make the tough decisions, whether they are popular decisions or not.

Linda M. Orlando is a newly published author from Maine, whose works now include a full-length romantic suspense novel and a young adult novel. Though she has not achieved the status of many of the artists and authors she has written about, she is a professional writer, whose published works are available in the marketplace.

No discussion of prominent, talented Mainers--artists, authors, and statesmen--would be complete without including the "King" of horrors, the master of the macabre, Stephen King.

There is a lot of talk today about the rights of the mentally ill. In the past, however, the mentally ill were mistreated, and typically warehoused to keep them away from civilized society. Like the mentally ill, prisoners of the past were subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment. Social activists like Dorothea Dix made a difference in many of these lives, through her tireless efforts to improve conditions in the prisons and insane asylums of the world.

“When the legend becomes the truth, print the legend” is a famous line from the 1962 movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. This line applies to many great Maine people, who have been important in history, politics, and the arts. This line is particularly appropriate in describing another great Maine legend, film director John Ford.

Back before there were computers, radar, sonar, and global positioning devices, seafarers relied on their compasses and the lightkeepers to protect them from the dangerous, jagged coastline. These lighthouses were not automated, had to be tended by hand, along with the warning bells that had to be wound ever few hours. Lone lightkeepers lived in tiny houses alongside the lighthouses. Sometimes these men brought their wives and children to live in the lighthouse. Sometimes these children had to help tend the light, wind the bell, and do whatever else was required.