A few years back, I had a wacky idea to photograph a series of readers, simply, reading. The idea was to simply promote more interest in cuddling up with a good book, perhaps forego the myriad of dubious material offered by steaming services and innocuous social media content. This without being preachy - but rather just illustrating the joy of a good, well-chosen book.
One night, I found myself re-reading Stephen King's 25-year old memoir, On Writing. On page 104, King wrote: "So I read when I can, but have a favorite place and probably you do too a place where the light is good and the vibe is usually strong. For me it's the blue chair in my study. For you it might be the couch on the sun porch, the rocker in the kitchen, or maybe it's propped up in your bed. Reading in bed can be heaven, assuming you can get just the right amount of light on the page and aren't prone to spilling your coffee or cognac on the sheets."
Voila! It was all the validation and encouragement I needed. I was off and running. After the prerequisite questions and rejections, I prevailed at Maine Public who embraced the idea as a media sponsor. Not as comfortably retired as I'd like to be, Maine State Credit Union enthusiastically offered to fund my efforts so that my author's royalties would go to support Maine Public's children's literacy programs. I'm very proud of that, and prouder of my good fortune to have invited and met so many grand readers who applauded my idea, and accepted my invite. Where Maine Reads is now available in many bookstores all over the Maine, and a sequel, Maine's Still Reading is well underway.
My "207" appearance with Rob Caldwell
For a full list of retailers visit: MainePublic.org
2025