46 Fiction: Two Souls With But A SingleThought. By Nancy Boyd (EdnaSt.VincentMillay).
35 Liquid Assets: ByDavidSwartzentruber.
49 Personals,Classifieds.
50 ExclusiveMaineProperties.
52 Flash.
Drawings by Mike Moore.
“Two Souls With But A Single Thought," fromDistressingDialogues byNancyBoyd, pseudonymofEdnaSaintVincentMillay, copyright1924,1951byEdnaSaintVincent MillayandNormaMillayEllis.Reprintedby permission.
PORTLAND MONTHLY
Publisher Nancy D. Sargent
Senior Editor Colin Sargent
Production Manager Margarete C. Schnauck
Advertising Director Bobbi L. Goodman
DirectorofMarketingLindaE.Leavitt
Art Director John Bidwell
Advertising Valerie Tucker
ChrisOberholtzer
CindiBaxter
Circulation John Bidwell
Composition L&L Kern Typesetting
Pictures Rhonda Earnham
M. C. Schnauck
Bookkeeping Johanna Hanaburgh
Interns Jeanne Lambrew
John Glass
Contributing Editors
Michael Hughes
MarciaFeller
RichardBennett
JurisUbans
M. Reed Bergstein
Kendall Merriam
FritziCohen
IlenryPaper
David Swartzentruber
Dan Domench
Anthony Pearson
DennisGilbert
George Hughes
Portland Monthly is published by Portland Monthly, Inc.,154MiddleStreet,Portland,ME04101.Allcor¬ respondenceshouldbeaddressedto154MiddleStreet, Portland,ME04101.
July/August1987,Vol.2,No.6,copyright1987 by Portland Monthly, Inc. All rights reserved. Applicationtomailatsecond-classratespendingat Portland, ME 04101. (ISSN: 0887-5340). Opin¬ ionsexpressedinarticlesarethoseofauthorsanddo notrepresenteditorialpositionsofPortlandMonthly. Letterstotheeditorarewelcomeandwillbetreated asunconditionallyassignedforpublicationand copyright purposes and as subject to Portland Monthly'sunrestrictedrighttoeditandcomment editorially.Nothinginthisissuemaybereprintedin wholeorinpartwithoutwrittenpermissionfromthe publishers.Postmaster:Sendaddresschangesto: 154MiddleStreet,Portland,Maine04101.Return postagemustaccompanyallmanuscriptsandpho¬ tographssubmittediftheyaretobereturned,andno responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials.
PortlandMonthlyispublished10timesannually byPortlandMonthly,Inc.,154MiddleStreet,Port¬ land.ME04101,>nFebruary,March,April,May, June. July. September, October, November, and December.
FROM THE EDITOR
Tidal Power
ofattention.The$54millionpilotpro¬ jecthasevenbeenvisitedbyIlisRoyal Highness Prince Andrew — there’s a plaque commemorating his visit on June 27, 1985 — all the more flatter¬ ing, that date, because 1 believe that was during Andrew’s summer of Koo Stark.
Poor Koo.
But even Koo would gladly step asideintheinterestofharnessing“the electric ocean,” as the Bay of Fundy hasbeendubbed,especiallyifshewere awarethatagiantversionoftheAnna¬ polisprojectisbeingplanned,onethat would span the Bay of Fundy from Economy Point to Tennycape and gen¬ erate 4,864 megawatts, enough power
hadtoseeittobelieveit. Why?
Because there I was, eating my ham-and-cheese sandwich, and sudden¬ ly the wondrousness of the whole thing was beginning to sink in. It could replace Maine Yankee, couldn’t it? I mean, Maine is part of the Bay of Fundy,too!
We stopped our car and beheld the splendors of “The Only Tidal Power Generating Plant In North America.” Quietly,sparklinglyaswewatched,this marvel of the Commonwealth of Can¬ ada generates 20,000 kilowatts that helpslight1-percentoftheprovinceof Nova Scotia every day.
to knock the eyes out of anyone’s Syl¬ vania Blue-Dots. How does it work?
The tidal power plant traps water at hightideontheupriversideofthesta¬ tionwithlocks,letstherestofthewater runbacktotheseaduringlowtide,then letsthesavedwatertrytocatchup,only this time passing the anxious water throughaseriesofturbineblades.
It’sbeautiful,andI’dlovetogetsome mail from people in Maine telling me howitcouldpossiblyworkhere.
SallyRogersandHowieBursen,famedfolkstalwarts,hit theboardstogetherinaconcertsponsoredbytheMaine NuclearReferendumCommitteeonSaturday,July11,8 p.m.,atLudckeAuditorium,WestbrookCollegeinPort¬ land.BothRogersandBursenareaccomplishedsingers, songwritersandinstrumentalists,andtheyhaveappeared asaduoonPublicRadio’sPrarieHomeCompanion.Their firstjointLP,“SatisfiedCustomers,”wasreleasedin1984. AnopeningsetwillbeperformedbythePortland-basedfolk duoSalemStreet,accompanyingthemselvesonguitar, washtub bass, and pennywhistle. Admission is $6 in advance,S8atthedoor.773-9549or772-2958.
Music on the Mall on the downtown Brunswick mall throughAugust.Freeoutdoorfamilyconcertseries.For details,contacttheBrunswickAreaChamberofCom¬ merce.725-8797.
1987 Summer Sounds at the Portland Performing Arts Center. The Portland Performing Arts Center (PPAC) presentsitsfourthspectacularSummerSoundssenes through August 15. On Friday kJuly17,FiddleFever bringstoPPACitsuniquebrandofbluegrass,swingand traditionalfiddlemusic.OnSaturday,July18,theCenter presentsTalkingDrumsWestAfricanDanceandMusic Ensemble,anall-startroupeofGhanianandAmerican performersplayingtheexcitingWestAfrican“Highlife” music.OnFriday,July24.composer-saxophonistJohn Zom,aneclecticandelectrifyingperformerwhoworksat thefringesofjazz,rockandcontemporaryclassicalcompo¬ sition,takesthestage,andonSaturday,July25.it’sthe inimitableTerranceSimienandtheMalletPlayboys, oneofthemostexplosiveZydecobandstoemergefrom Louisiana’sdeepbayoucountry.ThespectacularBen GuillemetteEnsemble,Maine’spremierFranco-traditional ensembleopensforthePlayboys.PeterOstroushkoof Public Radio’s Prarie Home Companion performs with hisMandoBoysonFriday.July31.Theirzanyblendof bluegrass,jazz,swingandoriginal"sluz-duz”musicwillbe complemented by Maine’s own 25-member Howitzer MandolinOrchestra.PopularperformerMariaMuldaur, perhapsbestknownforhermegahit.“Midnightatthe
Oasis,”willappearatPPAConSunday,August2.Kronos Quartetperformson1uesday,August4;thestringquartet haswonwidespreadacclaimforitsdanngandvirtuosic playingof20thcenturymusic.OnFriday,August7, PPACwelcomesTheBobs,aremarkableacappellagroup describedbytheLosAngelesDailyNewsas"nothingless thansensational.”OnFriday,August14,SummerSounds continueswiththe“churning,rhythmicauthority”(New YorkTimes)ofbluesguitanstand1987GrammyAward winnerJohnnyCopeland.TheseasonendsonSaturday, August 15, with Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and They MightBeGiants.Birdsongs’keyboard-basedsoundisan eclecticblendofinfluencesdrawnfromclassicalandelec¬ tronicmusic,jazz,androck.TheyMightBeGiantsjust mightbethemostunexpectedlycatchypopbandsince XTC.Allconcertsbeginat8p.m.774-0465.
The Bowdoin Summer Music Festival and Music Schoolincorporatesaprofessionalartists’concertseries,a musicschoolfortalentedyoungstudents,andtheCharles E.GamperFestivalofContemporaryMusic.LewisKaplan isDirectoroftheSummerMusicFestivalandSchool. KaplanisviolinistandfounderoftheAeolianChamber Players.Since1964,Kaplanhasbeenamemberofthe musicfacultyattheJuilliardSchoolinNewYork.Faculty (andguestartists)oftheinstructionalprograminclude: pianistsMartinCanin,FiorellaCaninandJaneCarlson; violinistsMargaretPardee,MariaBachmann,andNicole DiCecco;violistPaulDoktor;cellistChanningRobbins; bassplayerRonWasserman;flutistsLindaChesisand RansomWilson;percussionistChristopherDeane;guitarist DavidLeisner,andvoiceteacherEllenFault.Resident ensembles will be the Aeolian Chamber Players, the Rasoumovskyquartet,andtheBowdoinTrio.Concertsare heldeachThursdayeveningfromJuly2toAugust8at8 p.m.,intheFirstParishChurchadjacenttotheBowdoin campus.TwooutdoorconcertsarescheduledattheVisual ArtsCentershellontheBowdoincampus:Sunday,July5, at4p.m.,featuringanAmericanaprogram,andapremiere performanceofanewcompositionfororchestraandnarra¬ tor;andSunday,July12,at4p.m.,cellistNathanielRosen andtheBowdoinFestivalOrchestra,withAndySimionescu,violinist,performingworksofTschaikovskyand Mendelssohn.Otherguestartistsforthenine-concertseries willbeSzymonGoldberg,violinist;PaulNeubauer,violist; RansomWilson,flutist;andKurtOllmann,baritone.Stu¬ dentconcertstakeplaceeachSundayandTuesdayevening at8p.m.,intheKresgeAuditorium,VisualArtsCenteron theBowdoinCampus.Formoredetailedinformation,call 725-3253.
The 1987 Charles E. Gamper Festival of Contempor¬ aryMusicwillbeheldJuly29toAugust1onthecampusof BowdoinCollegeinBrunswick.Composers-in-residence willbePulitzerPrize-winnerGeorgeCrumb,GlenCortese, RobertRodriguez,andElliottSchwartz.Worksofthose fourcomposersaswellasotherswillbeperformed.Ihe festivalprovidescoachingandperformanceexperiencein contemporarymusicforstudents.Forticketandconcert information,call725-3895.Generaladmissiontoartists’ concertseriesisS10.Studentconcertsareheldeachsun¬ dayandTuesdayeveningat8p.m.,July5toAugust2,at KresgezXuditorium,VisualArtsCenter.Admissionis$1. Formoreinformation,call725-3747.
Alwaysthefocalpointofanyroom,thisstairis availablein5‘,6’,or8'6"diameters.Impeccably cratted in Red Oak or Honduran Mahogany. Other hardwoods are available on a custom basis.Forafreecolorbrochurewrite York Spiral Stair Dept. PM, No. Vassalboro, ME 04962 (207)872-5558
nance trueworthy
ON THE TOWN
Continuedfrompage5
QuintetinGMinor,K.516;Ponce’s“EstampasNocturnas”;Franck’sPianoQuintetinFMinor.Friday,July31: Aselectionofsongsandariasfromthe17thcentury, featuringspecialguestartistDavidRamirez,tenor,ofMexicoCity;Mozart’sDivertimentoinDMajor,K.136; Haydn’sDoubleConcertoinFMajorforviolinandharpsi¬ chord;Bach’sBrandenburgConcertoNo.2;Pergolesi’s ConcertinoinE-flatMajor.Allperformancesbeginat8 p.m.,withafreelecture-demonstrationprecedingat7:15. OlinArtsCenterConcertHall,BatesCollege,RussellSt., inLewiston.$6/$3studentsandseniors.786-6135. Raoul’sRoadsideAttraction,theoasisofhiponPort¬ land’smiraclemile,presentsavariedandeclecticseriesof concertsandwilddanceeventsthroughouttheweek.In July and August: Livingston Taylor (Thursday, July 23); Rock & a Hard Place (Friday, July 24); The Wicked Good Band (Saturday, July 25); Luther “Gui¬ tar"Johnson(Saturday,August1).Formoreinformation, call775-2494.You’llfindRaoul’sat865ForestAvenuein Portland.
Summer Theater
AcadiaRepertoryTheater,Somesville,Mt.DesertIsland (8milesfromBarHarbor).SameTimeNextYear(July3 toJuly12);TheMouseTrap(July14toJuly26);Cyano deBergerac(July28toAugust9);andTheComediesof Anton Chekhov (August 11 to August 23). Tuesday to Sundayat8:40.244-7260.
Brunswick Music Theater, Pickard Theater, Bowdoin College,Brunswick.Nowinit’s29thconsecutiveseasonas theonlyprofessionalresidentstockmusictheaterremaining inthecountry.TheBrunswickMusicTheaterpresents BoysfromSyracuse(July21toAugust2);tentatively. One Touch of Venus (August 4 to August 16); and 5Nunsense(August18toAugust30);TuesdaytoSatur¬ dayat8p.m.;Wednesday,FridayandSundaymatineesat 2p.m.$10to$16.725-8729.
The Camden Shakespeare Company returns to the CamdenLibraryAmphitheaterthisseasonwithalineupof traditionalandnot-so-traditionaltheater.Formoreinforma¬ tion,call236-6979.
Russell Square Summer Theater, Russell Hall on the UniversityofSouthernMaine’sGorhamCampus.Little ShopofHorrors(July15toAugust1);GreaterTuna (July5toAugust22).MondaytoSaturday,8p.m.;$7to $11.TheRussellSquarePlayersalsopresentthreeshows inarepertoryinPortland;AnEveningofOriginalOne Acts,AnEveningofKurtVonnegut,andStartingNow. TherepertoryseasonrunsfromlateJulythroughAugust. 780-5483.
SanfordMaineStageCompany,LittleTheateratNasson College,Springvale.TheCompanyoffersfourproductions through August 30: The Miracle Worker, Doonesbury andGilbertandSullivan'slolanthe.WednesdaytoSatur¬ day at 8 p.m., Sunday matinee 2 p.m. $8 to $10. 636-2222.
The Theater at Monmouth, Cumston Hall, Mam St., Route132,Monmouth.IntheTheater’srepertoryseason theplaysrunconcurrently;adetailedscheduleisavailable bycallingtheTheaterat933-2952.Theseasonruns throughAugust;theproductionsandupcomingbeginning datesare:TheImaginaryInvalid;Othello(July3);Much Ado About Nothing (July 15); and Uncle Vanya (July 30).8p.m.,withregularmatinees,$6.50to$11.
The Waterville Summer Music Theatre, Castonguay Square,Waterville.Nowinitssixthseason,thetheatre presentsitsshowsinoneofNewEnglandsmostbeautiful Victoriantheatres,theWatervilleOperaHouse.TheSea¬ son:Camelot(throughJuly12);FiddlerontheRoof(July 14toJuly26);GiveMyRegardstoBroadway(July28to August9);andCole(August11toAugust22).Iuesday toSaturday,8p.m.;matineesonWednesdayandSunday at2p.m.$8/$10.873-1309.
Jim Thorne, Pat Vilven, H. Bud Singer, Diane Shevenell, Barney Burrall Seated: Sue Lamb, Janice Drinan, Chris Jackson
The Cumberland Craft Fair at the Cumlx’rland Fair¬ groundstakesplacefromAugust6toAugust8.Formore information,contacttheUnitedMaineCraftsmen.POBox SGI.Portland,ME,04104.
HitchcockArtDealers,602CongressSt.,secondfloor, suite204,Portland.ContemporaryMaineart,featur¬ ing William Manning, Natasha Myers, Eric Hopkins, Wendy Kindred, James Linehan, Marilyn Blinkhom. Sherry Miller, Ann Gresinger and others. Monday to Saturday10to6(until9onThursdays),Sunday12to 5. 774-8919.
Please excuse the length of time it hastakenmetorespondtotheterrific article in your magazine. 1 found the articledelightfulandwelldoneanditis goodtoknowthatyou’redoingsowell.
Michael de Guzman Los Angeles
Right!
To The Editor:
Would you do me a favor? . . . I’m a psychologist,andthat’srealtrendyand yuppie-schmuppie and all that. But in fact,I’mreallygettingtobearealcrab¬ apple,andhavedevelopedastrongdis¬ like for much of the “new Portland,” especiallyasitisrepresentedbyyour so-calledmagazine.So—don’tsendit, ok?Betteryet,withthemoneyyousave by honoring my request, perhaps you could donate it for some worthy cause. Let’ssee...howaboutVelcrostrapsfor the dress you were featuring on theMay cover?Itwasthedressyouwerefeatur¬ ing,right?
Roger Zimmerman Portland
Jigsaw
To The Editor:
Today was the first time that I had seen and read Portland Monthly from covertocover.
Mylatefather,GeorgeF.Kelley,Jr., wasthetitularheadoftheRinesHotel, a name which 1 am sure you will recog¬ nize...
The Rines Hotel Co. then owned the whole block of Congress Street, from Forest Avenue to Cumberland Avenue and High Street, except for a small pieceofCongressStreet.
Before the City of Portland and the Rines Hotel decided to make this area into a park, it was the location of a 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts but (later
became)ahangoutofsomeundesirables.
The reason that the square was not originally completed was that Percy Baxter and Henry Rines were blood enemies for reasons that no one knew.. ..If each of the two were walking down anystreetoravenueinPortland,Maine oranywhereelseandonesawtheother, (he) would then make a 180-degree turn and head back in the appropriate direction,e.g.,realbloodenemies.Bax¬ terwastheownerofthemissingsection
After reading this month’s (June 1987) issue of Portland Monthly,I (am impressed by) how contemporary andupbeatitis.
It’s no wonder it’s taking Maine by storm!
Anne E. Fideler
Portland
Fire,Ice
To The Editor:
The Portland art community has broughttomyattentionthehighquality of your magazine! As a working artist inthisstate,1amveryimpressedbythe calibreandcontentofyourpublication, Portland Monthly.
Daniel B. Merriam
Portland BringHimBack!
To The Editor:
I missed M. Reed Bergstein’s byline in the May issue of P.M. His incisive and sometimes irreverent coverage is a valuable part of your magazine. Upon reading the hilarious interview with deposed tyrant John Holverson, I won¬ deredifhehadn’tgoneintoghostwrit¬ ing. Bring him back! (Bergstein, that is!)
Callorwriteforourvideota|x*showingtimber framepossibilities,BamMasters,Inc.,P.O.Box 258, Freeport, Maine 04032 (207)865-4169.
Houses x t Bams
U.S.S.Moosbrugger
To The Editor:
1justsubscribedtoPortland Monthly and opened the June issue’s cover, intent on reading every word. MOOS¬ BRUGGER, indecently exposed, cap¬ tured my attention straightaway and thenyoureditor’snote.
I enjoyed it immensely, perhaps becauseI’maretireddestroyerdriver, havesailedtheoceanswheretheI.M.C. blaring “Flight Quarters” meant mail and ice cream from a supply ship with unflappablehelopilots,andamoncein a while forced into daydreaming about dayspastbyarticlessuchasyours.
Ifullyexpectthecaptain,wardroom, andcrewhavebythistimereacquainted you with the ship and have made you pine(justalittle)fortheperfumeofJP-5 andthealmostbizarreballetsyouguys performed above our flight decks!
Thomas Moser Cabinetmakers, are nationally recog¬ nizeddesignersandbuildersofhighqualityfurniture.Vis¬ itorsarewelcometotheirshowroomat415Cumberland Avenue. 774-3791.
The Pine Tree Shop and Bayview Gallery, 75 Market St.,Portland.TheJulyexhibitfeaturestheThirdAnnual MarineArtInvitationalwithworksbyCarolSebold,Keith Renolds,WestFraser,JohnAtwater.RobertStebleton. andothers.TheGalleryalsofeaturesprints,postersand customframing.MondaytoThursday,9:30to5:30.and 9:30to9:30onFridayandSaturday.773-3007. PostersPlusGallery.146MiddleSt.,Portland.Featuring originalprintsbyFranklinGalambos,Kozo,HarveyPeter¬ son, Ron Bolt, Thomas McKnight, Tomoe Yokoi. Rock¬ well Kent, Margaret Babbitt, Peyton Higgison, R.C. Gorman,WillBarnet,NancyJones,CarolCollette,Harold Altman, Alan Magee. Jim Dine and others. Special summershowsinclude:WatercolorsbyHarveyPeterson. Anopeningreceptionwithartistpresenttakesplaceon Thursday,July9,5to8p.m.(July9toJuly30);Paintings byRufusCoes.Anopeningreceptionwithartistpresent lakesplaceonThursday,August6,5to8p.m.Mondayto Saturday.10:30to5:30.BeginninginJuly,callforthe Gallery’sextendedsummerhours.772-2693TheSteinGlassGallery,20MilkSt.,Portland.Summer eventsinclude:GlassfromthevividimaginationofPeter Greenwood (through July 7); Lisa Schwartz and Kurt Swanson:FunandFantasy(July8throughAugust18); andthemostsignificantglasssculptureshowintheNorth¬ ernUnitedStates,featuringtheworkof14nationallyrec¬ ognizedglassartists(August19throughSeptember30). 1hisshowfeaturestheworkofHarveyLittleton,Michael Taylor, Neil Duman, Robert Dane. Peter Andres. Tom Farbanish,PatrickCurran,JamesVanDeurzen,Peter Bramhall,EricHopkins,GeorgeBucquet.ChrisHeilman andBertWeiss.Therewillbeanopeningreceptionon Wednesday, August 19. from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday,10:30to6;Sunday12to5.772-9072. TimesTen,420ForeSt.,Portland.Finefunctionalcrafts fromtenMainecraftpersons,includingdocksbyRon Burke,earthenwarepotteryandtilesbyLibbySeigars,and handwovenrugsbySaraHotchkiss.MondaytoSaturday, 10to6.761-1553.
II have become so familiar that their significance has been overlooked. The coming of World War II to Por¬ tlandmarkedtheendofoneeraandthe beginningofanotherforMaine’slargest city.Thewarabruptlyendedthelinger¬ ing Great Depression and the economic, socialandculturalisolationofthearea. Unemployment dropped to almost zero, and thousands of rural Maine people rushedtoPortlandtoworkintheship¬ yard or the hundreds of other booming defense-related industries. Many young men, and a few women, were sent to Portland by the Army and Navy. The mingling of large numbers of these two groups broke down many of the old attitudesandprejudices,especiallywhen young men from New York and North Dakota ended up marrying young women from Chebeague Island and Cape Elizabeth. When the war ended, most of the people who had moved to thePortlandareastayed,ensuringthat thegrowthandculturaldiversitywould
PORTLANDIANA
become permanent.
Because the war happened within the lifetimes of many of the residents of Portland,itisstillnotconsidered“his¬ tory”bymostpeople,andlittleserious research has been done on the city’s roleintheconflict.Sincemanyofthe militaryaspectsofthewarweresecret at the time, many people still do not understand or appreciate the signifi¬ cance of Portland’s participation. To begintoremedythatsituation,wehave compiledseveralbriefvignettesofsome
These rare photos show a German UBoat being escorted into Portsmouth Harbor by a U.S. Navy destroyer after Germany’s surrender. Below: The U-
Boat crew is taken into custody at PortsmouthNavalStation.Originalplans wereforsurrenderingsubstosurfaceoff Cape Elizabeth.
oftheaspectsofWorldWarIIinCasco Bay.
The Buildup
InSeptember,1940,aftertheFallof France in June, the 240th Regiment of the Maine National Guard was calledupfora“yearoftraining”inthe forts of Portland. The first peacetime draftwasinstitutedthesameyear,and the 240th was soon receiving quotas of “selectees” who were put through basic trainingatthePortlandforts.Tohouse all the new men and some women volunteers, scores of temporary wooden barracks, mess halls, offices, store¬ houses, and recreation buildings were hastilyconstructedattheexistingforts, andlateratthesitesofnewdefenses. Likewise, when Portland became a Navy base, a large number of tempor¬ ary wooden buildings rose on Long and Great Diamond islands.
After the war the temporary build¬ ings,forts,andothermilitaryproperty were declared surplus. Four of the wooden buildings of the Navy Receiv¬ ing Station on Great Diamond Island were moved to the Deering estate in Portland to become the first permanent campus of Portland Junior College, now the University of Southern Maine. The buildings of one of the anti-motor torpedo batteries on Long Island were used for several years by the YMCA as a summer camp, and others became private summer cottages. The struc¬ turesontheoutlyingislands,likeJewell, werelefttorotaway.
The State of Maine acquired a num¬ ber of pieces of Army property — Two Lights and Jewel Island for parks, and Fort Preble as a site for its first vocational-technicalinstitute.TheTown of Cape Elizabeth purchased Fort Wil¬ liams as a park when it was vacated in 1962. The Navy Fuel Annex on Long Island and Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island was acquired by a Texas oil company, and Fort Levett on Cushing Island was purchased by the islandassociation.
Wartime Industries
Portland industries began boom¬ ing as the United States began buildingupitsdefenseswiththe outbreakofwarinEurope.Themilitary
not only needed guns and machines, but also clothing, shoes, blankets and food,soallaspectsofthelocalecon¬ omy boomed. Britain desperately needed new cargo vessels, as losses to German submarines increased, and to meet this demand a mammoth shipyard was con¬ structed in South Portland. Later, an¬ otheryardwasbuiltbytheU.S.govern¬ ment, and the two were consolidated as the New England Shipbuilding Com¬ pany. Employment at the yards peaked at 30,000 workers, including a high of 3,700 women. Production totaled 30 British “Ocean”-class freighters and 236 American “Liberty” ships. One of thelattervessels,theJerimiah O'Brien, has survived and can be visited at a maritime museum in San Francisco.
Wartime Housing
The manning of Portland’s har¬ bor defenses, the creation of a Naval Station, and the con¬ structionofashipyardcreatedasevere housing shortage in Portland. Hotels and rooming houses were filled to capacity,withsomeofthelatterreport¬ edly renting the same bed to shipyard workers on different shifts. Some cot¬ tages on Peaks Island were used as year-round residences, while many people commuted from surrounding communities.
To help ease the housing shortage, the U.S. Federal Housing Administra¬ tion constructed two permanent and several temporary housing projects in Portland and South Portland, along with one trailer park. The permanent developments were Sagamore Village on outer Brighton Avenue and Redbank Village near the State Reform School in South Portland. Redbank, the largest of the projects, housed 1,500 personsin500units.Alloftheprojects were planned communities with com¬ munity centers, playgrounds, and ath¬ leticfields,andinthecaseofRedbank, an elementary school. Each project had acommunitycouncil,boyandgirlscout organizations,playgroundactivitiesin the summer, and planned recreational activities year-round —movies once-aweek, parades and carnivals.
Planning even entered into the nam¬ ingofstreets.Sagamoreutilizednames from the early history of the States — Gorges, Cabot, Purchase, Godfrey — while Redbank used the names of early
Casualtiesfroma downed U.S. Navy blimp beinglanded.The personnelwho salvagedthe shipwere convincedthat ithadbeenshot down by a German U-Boat. (U.S.National Archives, Waltham,Mass.)
heroes of World War II— MacArthur, Wainwright and Colin Kelley. After the war, Sagamore was taken over by the Portland Housing Authority, while Redbank was acquired by a private real estate management company. The tem¬ porary housing was sold to the highest biddertobemovedoff-site.Thesebuild¬ ingswerecutintomanageableunitsand turned into modest ranch-style homes
and sometimes motels in the surround¬ ingareas.
U.S. Naval Station
Before 1941, the only Naval presence in Portland was a Reserve Training Center, but earlyinthatyearCascoBaywasdesig¬ nated a Fleet Anchorage and the rear admiral commanding U.S. Navy Des¬ troyersintheAtlanticmovedhisflag¬ shiptoPortlandsoonthereafter.Asthe naval forces expanded, a U.S. Naval StationwasestablishedinPortland.
One of the most important naval facilities was a fuel annex which was built on Long Island. Huge underground fuel storage tanks, blasted out of the island bedrock, were constructed to hold fuel before it was pumped out to vessels tied up to a series of large wharves. Long Island was also the site of a seaplane base and recreation cen¬ ter,whileLittleChebeaguewasusedas an outdoor recreation area and fire-
fightingschool.ThenorthsideofGreat Diamond Island became the site of a Receiving Station and dispensary.
TheNavalStationrequiredaconsid¬ erablenumberoffacilitiesonthemain¬ land,mostofwhichwereleasedforthe duration of the war. Officers’ messes were established in Falmouth and Port¬ land.BuildingsattheGrandTrunkPier were used as the U.S. Navy Frontier Base and a dispensary, while the Medi¬ cal Department and other offices were located in the old Post Office on Ex¬ changeStreet.TheMilkStreetNational Guard (Army) became the Naval Ath¬ letic Center while a bowling alley on Oak Street became the Fleet Club.
MineFieldsandSubmarineNets
Shortly before Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy selected Casco Bay as a fleet anchorage and began working with the Army to defend it. A decision was made to completely enclose the inner bay by running nets, booms, and obstacles between the main¬ land and Great Chebeague, Long,
FORTS OF PORTLAND
At the time of American Entry intoWorldWar11,theU.S.Army Coast Artillery Corps was housedinfortsbuiltattheturnofthe century.FortsLevett,McKinley,Preble (originallybuiltin1808),andWilliams were permanent defenses with perman¬ ent barracks and quarters designed to be manned during wartime by the
PORTLANDIANA
Peaks, and Cushing islands. Gates were providedinthemainshipchannel,Hus¬ sey Sound, Drinkwater Passage, and LittlejohnPassage.FieldsofArmycon¬ trolledmineswerelaidintheapproaches to the main channels and Navy contact mines in other areas. A joint ArmyNavy Harbor Entrance Control Post was established at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth to oversee all arrivals anddeparturesofvessels.BatteryKeyes at Fort Williams was designated the examination battery for the main chan¬ nelandkeptonalerttofireatanyship whichdidnotproperlyidentifyitself, whilepicketboatsandguardshipswere
stationedineachoftheentrancestothe harbor,andothervesselspatrolledthe coast. Commercial vessels used the main ship channel, while naval vessels entered and departed through Hussey Sound.
The Harbor Entrance Control Post controlled Army radar and sound de¬ tection systems and Navy sonar buoys andamagneticdetectionloop,inaddi¬ tiontothetallArmyconcreteobserva¬ tion towers. The detection systems located an unidentified vessel on 22 June 1942, which turned out to be a German submarine when it surfaced near Small Point later in the day. The sub dived when attacked by three Navy destroyers, and it was depth-charged but escaped. The most active period in Casco Bay was February through April, 1944, when 40 to 50 warships were trainedpriortotheNormandyinvasion.
The Army mine fields in the main ship channel were controlled by a command post at Fort Williams. The actualelectricfiringboardwaslocated inacasematebuiltintothesideofShip Cove, which is now used as a Civil Continuedonpage 22
Oneofthehundreds oftemporarybuildings constructedbythe Army and Navy in Portlandduring World War II. This companyadministra¬ tionandrecreation buildingatFort McKinleywasbuilt fortheArmyand laterbecamepartof theNavalReceiving Station.(SouthPort¬ land-CapeElizabeth HistoricalSociety.)
National Guard. Fort Williams, a fivecompany (or battery as designated by theCoastArtillery)installation,wasthe headquarters of the harbor defenses of Portland. Fort Preble, a two-battery post (there were approximately 100 enlistedmenperbattery),wasthehome of the 8th Coast Artillery, a regular Army regiment which served as care¬
taker for the forts during peacetime. Fort Levett, on Cushing Island, was a one-battery post, while Fort McKinley, the largest of the turn-of-the-century installations,hadsevenbatteries.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Portland forts were garrisoned by the FifthInfantryRegimentafteritsreturn from occupation duty in Europe after World War I. In 1939, the Fifth was sent to Panama to defend the canal, and the 240th Coast Artillery Regiment of the Maine National Guard was called upforayear’straining.Withthepas¬ sage of the Selective Service Act, the 240thtookresponsibilityforthebasic trainingof“Selectees,”andlargenum¬ bers of temporary wooden barracks werebuiltatalltheolderfortstohouse the increased numbers of personnel. In February,1944,therewere281officers, 38warrantofficers,and4,355enlisted men in the Portland forts. From this point on, thousands of men were sent abroad for the invasion of Europe so thatbyJune,1945,thetotalsstoodat 90 officers, 14 warrant officers, and 1,002 enlisted men.
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The domain of racquets once was as wide as the British Empire. But now the gameissoobscurethatitisplayedbyonly 200orsoinNorthAmericaandbyanaddi¬ tional1.500inBritishpublicschoolsand privateclubs.Thesecretformulaforcon structmg courts was buried with one fam itv tone ..nd liu.yji-suruUier...Ihz.
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FISH SHTICK
AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS AND BORE YOUR OPPONENTS WITH YOUR STUNNING, STEAMING, "KNOCK-EM DEAD'' COMPLETE AND FINAL BOUILLABAISSE OF FISH FACTS!!
■■■i BY M. REED BERGSTEIN
The waiter smiles. From his expressionyoucantellheissmiling atyou,thatthelobsterdinnerhe carries is yours. Your pick and nut¬ cracker gleam on the tablecloth. Per¬ hapsthewaiterknowsthedepthofyour anticipation,andsparesnoceremonyin serving. You thank him and he melts away, leaving you alone as, in silent nirvana, you snap off a hot claw and begin.
It’s a very personal moment, just between you and the lobster. It may seem yours is the only one, that this succulence belongs to you alone, so sweetandsopreciousisitswhiteflesh.
Butyouarenotalone.Lastyearover two million pounds of lobsters were landedattheportofPortland,upfrom justundertwomillionin1985,accord¬ ing to the National Marine Fisheries Service.Lastyeartheportlandedlobs¬ ter valued at nearly $5 million. When you add shark, shrimp, scallops, had¬ dock, yellowtail and a dozen other groundfish,thetotalvaluein1986was approximately $22.3 million, compris¬ ingacatchofoverthirty-fourmillion pounds.
Notexactlydinnerforone.
Rather,it’sbigindustry,andrepre¬ sentsthousandsofjobsandsubstantial revenues for Portland and the state. Recent passage of a five-year morato¬ rium banning non-marine development onthePortlandwaterfrontdemonstrated greatsupportforanindustrywhosehis¬ toricallinkwiththeportisthreatenedby overdevelopment. Voters by two-toone indicated maintaining the health
THE WATERFRONT
andgrowthofPortland’sworkingwater¬ frontisvital.
Not including the 150 or so lobster boats that work Casco Bay and ap¬ proaches, between seventy and ninetyfivefishingvesselscurrentlylandcatch at Portland, according to Gregory R. Power, Fisheries Specialist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
That’salargefleet,requiringberth¬ ingspace,harborservices,andstorage andtransportationfacilities,allgeared to accommodate an industry grappling dailywiththeespeciallyunpredictable challenges of supply and demand, vagaritiesofAtlanticweatherandtheever¬ fluctuatingyieldsofmothersea.
Of course the fishing business is an oldone,andalotofitstillcomesdown topoliticsandpoker.Insurprisingways some things haven’t changed much. In 1851, the wholesale price for hake at portland on June 16 was $1 dollar to $1.12 per pound, compared to a recent auction price at the Portland Fish Exchange of around ninety cents. [What this country needs is more pro¬ ducts whose price hasn’t changed
twenty-five cents in 135 years]. Large cod, however, was more expensive — around $3 dollars to $3.25 per pound in 1851, versus a third that much recently at auction. By the time that same cod of 1851 reached the port of Havana, carefully packed in Turk’s Island Salt, its price had risen to $4 dollars to $4.50 per pound. Maybe
Other times the market’s volatile, wrackedtoooftenbythestringenciesof war. By the mid-1860s the Civil War had brutalized the Portland fishing industry. Prices on everything from flannelshirtstomolasses,coffee,and Russian hemp cordage endured triple-
digitinflation.InThe Maine Sea Fisher¬ ies, 1830-1890: The Rise and Fall of a
Natural Industry, Wayne M. O’Leary writes, “When Portland prices reached theirwartimepeakinthedesperatewin¬ terof1864-65,itemsusedinthefisher¬ ies were wholesaling on average at 222 percent above the pre-war level, while fish and fish products were bringing only 172 percent more than before the war.”
These may be extreme examples, buttheydopointtotheresiliencyand consistent importance of the marine industry in Portland. The development moratorium looks to help deflect some of the mod-
PRODUCER PRICE INDEX - FRESH FISH
Source:DRI
ern pressures by securing a toehold on the main¬ land for the businesses
towhichitiscrucial. There’s await-and-see at¬ titudefollowingtherefer¬ endum, now that the pen¬ dulum has swung again in another direction. In the meantime while you’re waiting, 1 know a swell little place down on the water,frontthatservesa greatlobster....
Cod Flatfish
Haddock/Pollock
FAX
By Jeanne Lambrew
THE CATCH
In1986,theportofPortland,Maine landed a total of 29,929,586 pounds of fish at a value of $15,199,875.
The earliest recorded Portland catch was in 1946, when 35,612,000 pounds offishwerecaughtwithamarketvalue of $1,619,000.
In 1946, wartime meat shortages boostedfishermen’saveragesalariesto $15,000 per year.
In1986,thetotallobsterandshel¬ lfish catch was 4,550,496 pounds at a value of $6,831,316.
On the average:
The Number of Lobster x3 = Number of Fish
Landed. Fishx3= ster.
The Value of Value of Lob-
Pollack was the largest catch in 1986, scallops the most expensive. On June 15, 1987, Portland received its first-everloadofsquid,300,000pounds enroutetoJapan.
Overfishing and the loss of fishing ground in the Georges Bank have con¬ tributedtoageneraldeclineinthefish catch since the 1960s.
ThePortlandFishPier,the$19mil¬ lion project completed in 1986, houses freezers,processingfacilities,andafish auction house.
Berthingistheproblemthatwillkeep the fishing industry from expansion. The Fish Pier provides 15 berths at $5 perfoot.Butwiththehigherpricesand limitedaccess,boatscan’teasilytieup.
The Eastern Point Project, recently blocked by the waterfront development moratorium,could,infact,benefitthe workingwaterfrontintermsofberthing. In addition to housing and commercial space, a pedestrian walkway, and an access dock for islanders, the area
Continuedonpage23
Rhonda Famharr
PORTLAND CATCH AND VALUE
Continuedfrompage16
Defense emergency communications center. In Hussey Sound, a new Mine Control Station was built on Peaks Island overlooking the channel. The two-story concrete structure has been converted into a summer home. The mine casemate, a thick-walled, onestoryconcretestructurelocatednearby housed a plotting room as well as the firingpanels,andithasrecentlybecome thefoundationforalarge,year-around residence.
BatterySteele,PeaksIsland
BatterySteelewasthelargesttypeof
PORTLANDIANA
byseveralsearchlightsandradarsta¬ tions covering the same area. The bat¬ tery was defended from air and ground
coastdefensebatterybuiltintheUnited States during World War II. Designed todefendagainstthelargestbattleships oftheperiod,itconstitutedtheprimary protection for Portland Harbor during the war. The battery is located in a huge,reinforced-concretestructureap¬ proximately 800 feet long with a 10foot-thickroofbuilttowithstandhits from battleship shells and bombs. The structureiscoveredwith20feetofearth landscaped and planted to blend with thenaturalterrain.Twosurplus16-inch battleship guns were mounted in either end of the battery, where they were protectedbyadditionalfeetofconcrete and heavy armor shields. Interior gal¬ leries housed ammunition magazines, hugeelectricalpowergenerators,stor¬ agerooms,andagas-prooflatrine.The 16-inch guns fired a 2,240-pound shell to a 26- mile range. The plotting room andtelephoneswitchboardwerelocated in a separate, heavily reinforced and camouflaged structure west of the bat¬ tery,whichhaditsownelectricalpower system and was completely gas proof. The plotting room was equipped with a mechanical computer which quickly and accurately computed fire control data about the range, speed and direc¬ tion of targets. The battery command¬ er’sstationwaslocatedinoneofthetall, concrete observation towers on the high-ground center of the island. The battery was served by a series of 10 multi-storyconcreteobservationtowers extending from Biddeford Pool in the southtoBaileyIslandinthenorth,and
BattleshipsWhichVisited
Portland During World War II
Alabama
Arkansas
Indiana
Iowa
Massachusetts
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
South Dakota
BusiestPeriodduring World War II
Week of 12 August 1944
Dailyaverageofeightyvessels entering and leaving Casco Bay.
attack by two .30 caliber and two .50 caliber machine guns and two 40-mm antiaircraft guns. The complement of men required to serve the battery was 190. Battery Steele was completed and the guns test-fired in 1944. Battery Steele is owned by Solar Technology andResearch,butmostofitisopento thepublic.
Anti-Motor-TorpedoBoatBatteries
Twenty small 90-mm batteries wereinstalledatstrategicpoints around Casco Bay to defend naval vessels in the inner bay against lightning attacks by small, high-speed torpedo boats. A secondary mission wastodefendagainstairattacks.These batterieswerelocatedatFortWilliams at Portland Head and Fort Levett on Cushing Island to defend the main channelintotheharbor.Thereweretwo batteriesonPeaksIsland,onetocover the entrance to White Head and pas¬ sage and the other the approaches to Hussey Sound. A battery on the south end of Long Island also covered Hus¬ sey Sound, while one on the north end covered the passage between Long Island and Great Chebeague. Finally, batteriesonthenorthendofGreatChe¬ beagueIslandandthesouthendofBai¬ leyIslanddefendedthenorthernentrance totheinnerbay.Eachbatteryconsisted of four 90-mm guns, two of them mobile and two equipped with turret¬ like steel shields and permanently mounted on concrete gun blocks. The guns were linked to a sophisticated range finder and data computer which could fire the guns automatically at a range of 25 rounds per minute at a range of 10,000 yards. The AMTB batteries were also equipped with 40mm guns to supplement the fire of the 90-mms,searchlightsfornightattacks, and electrical power plants. The com¬ plement of men per battery numbered approximately 50. Other than the gun blocks,therewaslittlepermanenttothe AMTB batteries. Magazines were built of wood and covered with earth. Bat¬ tery commanders’ stations and electri¬ calgeneratorbuildingswerealsobuilt of wood, and few' have survived. Most battery sites are now privately owned, butoneofthegunblockscanbeseenat Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, justtothewestofthelighthouse.
THE WATERFRONT
Continued from page 21 would include a 320-boat marina, with 20 berths reserved for fishing boats. This is 20 more than now exists in the unused space. And a breakwater would be constructed, improving the condi¬ tionsoftheport.Areworkedproposalis now before the city council, with the marineaspectsintact.
THE SALE
The Portland Fish Exchange sells 1/2ofthefleet’sfishtomorethan40 buyers, mostly from New York and Pennsylvania.
TheFishAuctionofPortlandisuni¬ queinthenation,comparedtotheBos¬ ton and New Bedford auctions, where shiploadsaresoldblindly.ThePortland Fish Exchange sorts fish into boxes whicharebidfor,thepricemorerespon¬ sivetoquality.
“The Certified Maine Fresh Fish” program has promoted Maine seafood for the past six years. In 1986, the A&P supermarket chain contracted for more than 100,000 fileted pounds for its 199 New York and New Jersey stores.
Why own a piece of the rock when you can own the whole thing?
Allofusdreamofescapinginaraft fromthehumancondition,oflivinglike Robinson Crusoe on a secluded Maine islandthatthrustsitsshaggygreenhead above the waves, and youcanstillfind one, too, if you’re willing to head to Penobscot Bay and the wilderness of real Downeast Maine.
Locatinganavailable—forgetabout affordable — private island in Casco Bayoritsenvironsisaseasyasfinding a Ferrari in Frenchville. According to Howard Heller of Port Island Realty, “There aren’t any bargain basement islands anymore... Prices have sky¬ rocketedinthelastfewyears.”Hesays he doesn’t know of any entire islands currentlyonthemarketinGreaterPort¬ land(aFreeportislandhavingjustsold
ataKennebunkauctionfor$200,000), although some lots and developed par¬ cels are available on the larger Casco Bay islands (e.g., Great Diamond, Chebeague,Peaks),forthoseableandwil¬ lingtopay.
Thoseinterestedinthe“true”island experience—seclusion,tranquility,out¬ houses — will have to look Downeast. TheIslandInstitute,anon-profitcon¬ servation organization headquartered
CrowIsland,Frenchboro,yoursfor$96,500.
inRockland,keepsunofficiallistingsof available island properties as well as more general information on Maine islands.Asofthiswriting,someofthe Institute’slistingsincludethefollowing:
* In Casco Passage, between Camden and Isle-Au-Haut, you can buy John’s Island, 22+ acres, no road and heavily wooded,for$195,000;ora40-acrelot on Black Island for $220,000.
*ThenorthernhalfofTinkersIsland offBlueHill,atotalof225acreswith2 miles of shorefront available, can be yours for $950,000.
* If that would exceed the limit on your Visa, try half-acre Mouse Island, offJonesport,withdeep-waterfrontage andaland-bridgeatlowtide,for$9,900.
* Also off Jonesport, $125,000 will buy you 20-acre Western Brother, which featuresitsownspring—ararebenefit.
*YoucouldownFortIsland,asmall pieceoflandwithabuilding,offHar¬ rington,Maine,foramere$16,000,or nearbyLord’sIsland,woodedandsmall, for $15,000.
available for $62,500.
*Crow Island, off Frenchboro, seven acres of heavily wooded and undeve¬ loped land with beaches, can be yours for $96,500.
What would it be like to have an island for your own? David Titcomb of Weir, New Hampshire, owner of threeacre Pumpkin Knob on Hussey Sound, distinguishes between owning an island and having it for your own. “Wayfarers
* Five-acre Carrying Place Island, offSouthAddison,includingtwobeach¬ es and a cottage that sleeps eight, is “Oh, yoo hoo. How much do you plate?”
oftencomebytheisland,”hesays.“We askthemtobegoodtoourpossessions. We have a log-book and we ask them to write us a message about their expe¬ rienceontheisland.”
A lifelong New Englander and a sai¬ lor, Titcomb purchased the island in 1970for$10,000.Forvisitors,anarti¬ cle hangs on the property requesting them to “leave Pumpkin Knob better than when you found each other,” and explainingthatthe“island’sbeenthere for10,000years,and1amthereigning monarch and have been for 5,000-plus days.”
“TheIslandisbiggerthanallofus,” Titcombsays.“It’safarce,andthat’s what we make of it. But little Pumpkin Knob is dear, and wonderful things go onthere.”
He says Pumpkin Knob may be best known for “Codfish,” the totem pole carved from a pine log in his likeness which gazes off toward Spain. Codfish wasstolenawhileback,buttippedbya local fisherman, Titcomb retrieved the island’s only permanent resident and returned him to the Knob. Titcomb is oneisland-ownerwhoobviouslydelights in his role as “current master of the Knob.”
JulieLevett,theIslandInstitute’s assistant director, says that 1,800 of the state’s 3,000 coastal islands are state-owned. Although many are just small, bare patches of rock, she says theInstituteisnowsurveyingthepub¬ licly owned islands for the Bureau of Public Lands to determine what poten¬ tial resources Maine people may have intheseproperties.
KFOURYWEINSCHENK
CAPE ELIZABETH'S
NEWEST BUZZWORD
A Kfoury-Weinschenk on Town Landing Road in Cumberland Foreside.
Though it may sound like a wine cooler, Kfoury - Weinschenk Inc.isthetrademarkofadesign and development firm whose most re¬ cent project is the 128-acre Elizabeth Farms, off Sawyer Road in Cape Eliza¬ beth.Whencompletedinthenext2-2’A years,theenclavewillhaveatotalof44 impressive shingle-style houses and a 40-acre meadow, nature walk, and fit¬ ness trail. Individual lots range from 80,000 to 131,000 square feet, with prices approaching $400,000...
Atfirstglance,blondarchitectural designer Ric Weinschenk, 38, a sneakered, khaki-clad Camel smoker from NewYork,lookslikehewouldbeinhis element on a starboard tack in Casco Bay. Weinschenk explains that his designs are “part 1850 (he spent some boyhood years on the Hamptons) and part 1990. Everything seems a little grotesque in scale. My designs overall don’t come from a specific day or year —insteadtheyareacombinationofthe best things I’ve seen in houses.” Co¬ lumbia University-trained Weinschenk gothisstartasanarchitecturaldesigner
byabandoningabriefcareerasawrit¬ er:“After1spentaweekworkingforthe New York Times, 1 knew that I was never going to make enough money as ajournalist.”
EnterpartnerJimKfoury,46,presi¬ dent and founder of the New England BuildingCo.(adistributorandinstaller of glass), a Bostonian, father of two, husband,voraciousreader,sailor,and, glows Weinschenk, “financial wizard.” Kfourygothisstartsellingglassdoors and windows out of a truck in Vermont. According to Weinschenk, the partner¬ shipwasformed10yearsagoafterthey had worked together on a number of jobs in the Green Mountain state.
The Elizabeth Farms project began 3 years ago when Weinschenk left the landofBenandJerryafter18yearsin order “to go back to the water.” He feels that “the biggest problem three years ago was that there weren’t any big,fancyarchitecturalhomesinMaine. They were mostly turn-of-the-century. A new renaissance of style had to be introduced,aswellasupscalepricing.”
Thedevelopmentisdividedintothree
sectors, known as Park Circle, Cole Field, and Farm’s Edge, each resplend¬ ent with between 9 and 11 KfouryWeinschenks. Prices for the lots range from $50,000 to $140,000; the six limited-edition Kfoury-Weinschenks range in price from $213,840 to $277,740. If none of these strikes your fancy, Kfoury-Weinschenk will design a home expressly suited to your personaltastes.
To date, lots are being purchased typicallybylocalswhoarebetweenthe ages of 30 and 45, have three or more children,andowntheirownbusinesses. Also, Weinschenk’s unique designs are not limited to 44 acres in Cape Eliza¬ beth. Cumberland Foreside, Broad Cove, and Chimney Rock road are all refrac¬ tory with Kfoury-Weinschenk originals. So what makes something uniquely a Kfoury - Weinschenk creation? “Per¬ sonalattentionandhighstandards,”as well as a whale of a lot of windows: “People ought to be able to look out —rooms shouldn’t be oriented to one side or the other. Attention to shapes andproportions,sothatahousedoesn’t look like it has too much eye make-up. You have to design the inside and out¬ sideatthesametime.I’veneverbuilt the same house twice in 18 years.” Ruskin would be pleased...
“Real estate development is threequarters experience and one-quarter luck,” states Weinschenk. “Jim Kfoury is a good and successful businessman withagutsensethatfillsintheonequarter mystery. He can see clearly through details that 1 get mired down in.”
In spite of having the mystery ele¬ ment licked and a trade name that’s setting the Maine coast abuzz, KfouryWeinschenk’s Elizabeth Farms project hastakenalittlelongerthaninitially anticipated.“Thereareanextrasetof (zoning)hurdles,asitshouldbe,along thecoast.1knowalotaboutthetownof Cape Elizabeth. People there are very concerned with a wide range of things — septic systems, dead-end roads, aes¬ thetics, and road compatibility. The only way to have growth is to have controlled growth —a good, comprehen¬ sive plan,” philosophizes Weinschenk. He describes conservatism existing “in itspurestforminCapeElizabeth.How¬ ever,” he adds, “they are not opposed toinnovation.”
BY DON MacWILLIAMS
Poevs.Longfellow
Three Portland natives were intimatelyinvolvedintheshort, unhappy life of Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe: poet Henry Wads¬ worth Longfellow, author-critic John Neal, and poet-publisher Nathaniel P. Willis.PoeregardedNealandWillisas benefactors, which they were. The two gave timely help and support to Poe, NealatthebeginningofPoe’sliterary careerandWillisattheend.
It was Poe who touched off the feud when he unexpectedly charged Long¬ fellow with plagiarism. Poe wrote an article stating that Longfellow had used ideas contained in Tennyson’s Death of the Old Year intheMainer’s poem, Midnight Mass for the Dying Year. The volatile Poe persevered withasimilaraccusationconcerninghis
own poem, The Haunted Palace: “By ‘ Haunted Palace’ I mean to imply a mind haunted by phantoms — a dis¬ ordered brain — and by ‘The Be¬ leaguered City’ Professor Longfellow means the same. But the whole tournure of the poem is based on mine, as you will see at once. The allegorical conduct,thestyleofitsexpressionand verification—allaremine!”
ItwastoLongfellow’screditthathe did not respond to the posed tirades leaving any riposte to members of his literary club, the Boston Brahmins, which boasted men like Hawthorne, Emerson, Whittier, James Russell Lowell and club leader Oliver Wendell Holmes. Well-bred as they were, how¬ ever,theydidnotdeigntoenterthelists againstPoe,leavingittoeditorslike William Evans Burton ofGentlemen’s Magazine whofeltthatPoewastrying to gain attention by causing a sensa¬
tion. When Burton and other editors refused to print more of Poe’s com¬ ments, the poet’s feud with Longfellow graduallydiedout.Butnotbeforealast diatribe from Poe:“Professor Longfel¬ lowortheFrog-pondianProfessorscol¬ lectively are in shameful practice on composing on the model of theGreek. Mr. L. is a man of imagination — but canheimaginethatanyindividualwith aproperunderstandingofthedangerof lockjaw would make an attempt of twistinghismouthintotheshapeneces¬ sary for the emission of such spondees as ‘parents’ and ‘from the’ and such dactylsas‘cleanedandthe’and‘loved onesof’?”
Poe mellowed somewhat following the acceptance and praise he received afterpublishingofThe Raven, conced¬ ing that “Some of Longfellow’s poems areperfectgemsoftheirkind.”
Poe credited John Neal with giving
John D. Bidwell
CONTROVERSY
him his first encouragement. The young poet,then20yearsold,sentoneofhis early poems to Neal who had begun publishing a literary monthly in Port¬ land and who had gained a reputation asacriticofpoetry.Commentinginthe September, 1829 issue of the maga¬ zine, Neal was obviously much im¬ pressed with the poem, going so far as topredictthatPoemightsomedaywrite “a magnificent poem.” Sixteen years later,The Ravenwaspublished,firstin the American Revue and then in the New Mirror byNathanielWillis. Willis,apoetinhisownright,had given Poe a much needed job as sub¬ editoronthestaffofthe Mirror, and encouragedPoeinhiswriting.Inalet¬ ter to Willis a few months before his death, Poe wrote “I have not forgotten how a good word in season from you madeThe Raven.”
■■■■■■■■
After Poe’s death in 1849, Willis wroteatributetothepoetwho,Willis opined, was a man “inhabited by both a devilandanangel.”
STOLEN
BY JEANNE LAMBREW
The poem “The Midnight Mass for the Dying Year ” belongs “to the most barbarousclassofliteraryrobbery;that class in which, while the words of the wronged author are avoided, his most intangible,andthereforehisleastde¬ fensibleandleastreclaimableproperty, ispurloined.”Plagiarismwasthecrime, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the criminal according to Edgar Allan Poe. Beginning with the accusation in Bur¬ ton's Gentleman’s Magazine in 1840,
Poelaunchedapublictiradeagainstthe Mainepoetthatlastedforyears,atits height well known as the “Longfellow War.”
“Poe is a monomaniac on the subject of plagiarism and I thought it best to allowhimtoridehishobbytodeathin the outset and be done with it.” With “permission” of coeditor Briggs, Poe usedweeklyinstallmentsoftheBroad¬ way Journal inMarchof1845tofully articulate his charges. The writer of “The Raven” detailed, in a five-part response to a defender of Longfellow named “Outis”, the old claims against “The Midnight Mass” and “The Belea¬ guered City”. He also questioned a third,seeingshadowsofhis“Politian” in Longfellow’s “The Spanish Student”. The attack on his poems didn’t satisfy hisobsession,though;ajabevencriti¬ cizesLongfellow’seditingofacollec¬ tionofpoetry:**...althoughfullof beauties,itisinfectedwithamoraltaint —orisitamerefreakofourownfancy? We shall be pleased if it be so; — but theredoesappearinthislittlevolume,a very careful avoidance of all American poets who may be supposed especially
tointerferewiththeclaimsofMr.Long¬ fellow. These men Mr. Longfellow can continuouslyintimate(isthattheword?) and yet never incidently commend.”
Yet Longfellow was more a victim of thewarthanparticipant.Heneverpub¬ lishedaremarkonthesubject,therare letteralmostdenyingitsexistence.To RufusGriswold,anotededitorin1850, hewrote:“forIdonotremember...that Mr. Poe ever accused me of taking my poem from his....When Mr. Poe’s poem waswritten,andfirstpublished,Idonot know.IamquitesureIneversawit,till long,longafterminewaswritten.”
MostcriticsagreethatPoe’sjealousy createdtheseghostsintheother’swork. Yet,in1935,anarticleappearedinthe New YorkColophonentitled“Longfel¬ low’sOrginalSinofImitation”.Itcon¬ cretelytracedhisfirstpublishedpoem, “TheBattleofLovell’sPond”toLovellspond” by T.C. Upham, a favorite of the young Portlander. Although he was thirteen at the time, it seemed Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was familiar with the word plagiarism not justasanaccusationbutasapractice.
Restaurants are listed as a courtesy in this section as space allows. 1 o guarantee inclusion of your listing for the next year,call Portland Monthly Classifieds. 154 Middle Street. Portland. Maine 01101. (207) 775 4339.
When my guest and I glided intoBrattleStreet,Portland’s sole surviving French res¬ taurant (once companion to a starry fieldthatincludedL’Antibes,TheVinyard, Swan Dive, 34 Exchange, et. al.) on a recent Wednesday night, business wasuncharacteristicallyslow(onerea¬ son,thoughaminoroneIsuspect,that the service was exceptionally good). 1 he only other people in the dining room were a middle-aged couple cele¬ brating their apparently long-standing affectionforeachotherwithanintimate dinner. Their presence added a dimen¬ sion of warmth and buoyancy, one which my companion and I intended to establishinourowncornerofthedining room. The third party which arrived, however, was dominated by a young womanwhofeltitherdutytocatchher sidekicksuponthelatestbestsellersat the cinema box office. If she had not been so enthusiastic, or if the dining room had been full, orifshehadbeen
components of the atmosphere, have a responsibilitytobehaveinconcordance with the setting. More importantly, it points out that when the many elements necessary to make a dining experience exceptionalconspiretodoso,theslight¬ estintrusionofday-to-dayrealityislia¬ bletobreakthespell.Theordinaryand the good robustly weather whatever chilly drafts gust in as the door is opened. But the more ambitious you are,themoreyouareabletoraiseyour customers’expectations.Brilliantlyful¬ filling them, the more vulnerable you aretothoseunforseeabledisturbances.
This is a very roundabout way of sayingthatthefoodatBrattleStreetis very, very good. And I agree with my friendinthegeneralspiritofthetheory: thefood’sthething.
Our sampling of the Brattle Street menu began before we ordered with a plate of dainty canapes made with compound butters — roquefort, roasted red peppers, chives — a Brattle Street relating something reallyentertaining —forinstance,the sordidaffairshewas having with her best friend’s husband — neither of us would have minded. As it was, itwasadistraction.
Now, according tomyfriend’sthe¬ ory,thiscriticismis offthemark,andlet mebethefirstto admitthatitisalso
BY DENNIS GILBERT
trademark which craftilyturns hungry people into famished ones. The tenor having been set, we began in earnest with a rich, dark game liverpatewhich created the
desirable sensation of ice melting on the tongue as the flavors opened and expanded. We followed unfair. It was a minor distraction, an accidentoftheevening.Yetitisuseful insofar as it suggests that diners, as participantsintheriteandasprimary
with a shrimp mousse and a seafood feuillete. The mousse, served with poached shrimp and an avocado sauce, Continuedonpage39
ven though Nathaniel Bowditch’s AMERICAN PRACTICAL NAVI¬ GATORhasthesexistaffronterytobeginwiththeline,“Navigationbegan withthefirstman,”thewomenyou’llmeetinthisarticleareexpertinall thingsmaritime,bothasanartandasascience,inthegrandtraditionofleader¬ shipatsea.
cagey enough to emerge as a colorfulenoughtobecarrying waterfront andouttotheGrand
MOVERS & SHAKERS
BY COLIN SARGENT
LTJG June E. Ryan and her new command, the Cape Morgan.
M.C. Schnauck
it’s nothing really romantic,” says LTJG June E. Ryan, United States Coast Guard, the new commanding officerofthe95-footCapeMorgan, a beautifullykeptCoastGuardcuttersta¬ tioned in Portland Harbor, about her really romantic new assignment.
Then she comes clean: “I’m really very excited. Very nervous.”
She has reason to be excited. She’s one of 5 women nationwide who have been selected for command in 95footers in a competitive environment whereonly2percentofallCoastGuard officers,maleorfemale,getselectedfor command. While underway, her favor¬ itewatchis4to8a.m.:“Then,by7:30, you’rereadytogoseethesunrise.”
During her last assignment, she was
the helm, everybody’s watching to see how you do. I don’t think anyone will challengethewayIdothings.Safetyof crew and vessel and people is No. 1. Whether or not I’m macho enough to handleit,that’swaydownonthelist. With a crew of 14, we’re too small a crewtoquarrel.”
Like Lord Nelson, she can get sea¬ sick,butshe’saidedbysomebreakthrough prescriptionmedicinethat“farexceeds anything that Dramamine can do. The new medicine’s been around for a cou¬ pleofyears,”shesays.
Herotherliability?“Tootsie-rolls,” she smiles. “You know I’ve been on watch when you find the Tootsie-roll wrappers on the radar repeater.
“ThissetoforderstoPortlandismy
95-footer commanded by a woman.”
Anotherfirstisthefactthatofthe 14-person crew on Ryan’s ship, 5 are women, the highest female percentage todate.
The CapeMorgan can weather 10footseas,a45-degreeheel,androutine patrolsthatcantakeher200-400miles offthecoasttowardtheGeorgesBanks. LTJG Ryan herself is weathering much more.AnewresidentofPortland(she’s justboughta9-year-oldhouseonBrigh¬ ton Avenue), she’s a newlywed, mar¬ ried to Warrant Officer Timothy P. Ryan, who’s assigned to the Governor’s Island station in New York, so it’s a commuter marriage for a while.
“We knew we were going to be separated.Thisistheclosest95-footer
SHEmanship: Women Charge!Take
navigatorfora378-footHamiltonClass CoastGuardcutter,theGallatin, where she mastered sophisticated hardware like SATNAV and LORAN, as well as celestialnavigation.Duringoperations aboard theGallatin en route to Sco¬ tland, she encountered waves that bounded over the ship’s 44-foot high deck and pounded the flying bridge another 54 feet higher. “We were tak¬ ingonaconsiderableamountofwater,” she says. “Our five-inch gun mount on the bow unlocked and moved from the forceofawave.”
A native of Bettendorf, Iowa, she’s 25 years old, a graduate of Bowling Green State (with a major in Marine Biology),5feet9inchestall,steady, confident, and a level speaker, like Gary Cooper: “Obviously, if you take
firstchoice.Togetacommandisahigh honor.I’mnotapioneerorexceptional or anything awkward or weird. Our primary mission is law enforcement, mostlyfisheriesregulations.Butevery¬ thingdropsifthere’saboatsinking.For mepersonally,searchandrescueisthe glamour part of our mission, the most rewarding.You’renotgoingtosay,‘I’m sorry—thisisanillegalfish...’You drop everything for S.A.R.”
Captain John N. Faigle, Chief of Staff, 1st Coast Guard District (which covers the Canadian border to Tom’s River, New Jersey), is greatly pleased with Ryan’s command style. “This is the first woman commanding officer we’ve had in Maine. It’s precedent¬ setting for Maine and New Hampshire, actually, and I’m not aware of another
to New York. I could have requested to stay in New York, but I’d have had to takeadeskjob.”
Ofcourse,there’salottokeepher busy while her husband checks into reassignmentpossibilities:confidential drugpatrols;gunnerypracticewiththe two 50-caliber machine guns, two M16s, and other armament carried by the CapeMorgan; and, in extremissitua¬ tions,thejudiciousexerciseofthe“hot pursuitclause,”ahigh-pressure“oppor¬ tunitytoexcel”shehasfoundherselfin before: “I was in charge of a boarding partyofftheshoreofHaitiwhenIwas ontheGallatin, andwechasedasuspi¬ ciousboatontotheshore.Thepeoplein the boat ran into the jungle and we startedtofollow,butamomentlatera bunch of Haitian natives came out of
BOWDOINONICE
Donald B. MacMillan (1874-1979), Maine’s lamed arctic explorer, was deadsetagainsttakinghiswife,Meriam, to the North Pole. But the crew of the Bowdoin, MacMillan’s famed arcticweatherschooner,hadotherplans.Fol¬ lowing a short excursion, “Mac’s Boys” decided Meriam was less a hindrance than an asset, and penned a petition requesting she stay aboard. Of the 300 scientistsandyoungsailorswhohelped log over 300,000 miles and 26 trips to thearcticontheBotvdoin, Meriam was the only woman.
Today, the restoredBotvdoin could potentially be skippered by a 30-yearold woman, Cate Cronin. Not only the first female captain of the Botvdoin, Cateisalsothefirstfemalecaptainof such a schooner on the East Coast. Cate,aBangornative,firstbegansail¬ ing seriously while involved with the schooner fleet in Camden during summer vacations.Soseriouslydidshetakesail¬ ingthatshelefttheUniversityofMaine (she later finished her Bachelors at USM, and recently completed her Mas¬ tersinEducationatHarvard),branched into the Outward Bound Program, and eventuallybecameskipperoftheClear¬ water on the Hudson in New York.
Last fall, Cate heard the Botvdoin was mothballing in Boston Harbor while the Schooner Bowdoin Association de¬ bated on the ship’s future. Just a few yearsearliertheassociationhaddecided to complete very expensive restoration of the boat, since the Bowdoin “was
recognized as one of the strongest and (most) beautiful wooden ships in the world.”Unfortunately,strengthandbeau¬ tyhaddonelittletodwarfrestoration bills,andtheshipwasindangerofbeing sold.
Cate and Ken Shaw, another captain and recent chief mate of theBowdoin andNathanial Bowditch(sistershipto theBowdoin), approached the associa¬ tionwithaplantoworktheBowdoinas an educational vessel out of Portland. Whereas other large schooners have beenrefinishedasvacationcruiseships and are only accessible to those with money and time, the Bowdoin would servetoteachaboutitself,schoonersin general, the coast, and the environ¬ ment, through tours both local and coastal.
Breezing away with a favorable res¬ ponse, the Botvdoin, under the com¬ mand of Cate, set sail for Portland. Afterdocking,however,unforeseendif¬ ficulties arose and as quickly as Cate hadacquiredhercaptainship,theBow¬ doin was whisked out of Portland to be mothballed in Rockland Harbor. Due to these complications and frustrations, mostofCate’sskipperinghasbeenfrom an armchair, but the Bowdoin’s new captain remains optimistic. Perhaps a shortexcursionisallthatisneededto convince the Schooner Bowdoin Asso¬ ciationtopenapetitiontosavetheship as a working, and not a privately owned,craft.
BY JOHN DAVIS BIDWELL
thejungleinstead,runningrightforus onto the beach, and waving machetes. Big guys, 400 pounds. They weren’t man-eatinglionsoranythinglikethat. Maybe they were after Coca-Cola. We had a cooler in our boat. Anyway, it wasn’t a big concern,” concludes blue¬ eyed LTJG Ryan. “They only had machetes and I had a 45.”
Barbara Stevenson’s appearance in Portland since September is perhaps thePortlandFishPier’sgreatestachieve¬ menttodate.LivingproofthattheFish Pier is bringing new business to Port¬ land Harbor, Stevenson, 39, read about theFishPierinafishingtrademagazine anddecidedtorelocatehertwo$500,000 deepwaterfishingboats,theEdward L. Moore and the Drake, from Newport, Rhode Island to Portland.
InsideherofficeattheMarineTrade Center, Room 313, Stevenson is giving a man with an English accent the straightskinnyonzinc:
Barbara Stevenson: “Yeah. We kind ofcoercethemtodoitright.”
Shelaughsalittle,andyoufeelthe strong undertow of a sense of humor thatgoesdownfullfathomfive.“1was goingtoschoolattheUniversityofDel¬ aware, majoring in Marine Biology,” shebegins.“Myhusbandwasn’tinfish¬ ingeitherwhenwegotstarted.”
How did she get here, running a multi-million-dollarfishingcorporation?
“First we got the Novi boat,” she says. “It was gray, strip-planked. We bought it up there from a man who’d been a stockbroker in Boston. Thirtyfivefeetlong.Weworkedpottingconchs andgillnettingonourNovi,baitingwith horseshoe crabs and shark. What kind of conchs? Not the nobby ones. Nobbies eatlivethings.Smoothseatdeadthings.”
Shesmilesbeneathheroperaticblonde pigtailtiedoffwithagreenband,abso¬ lute in her knowledge of nobbies and smooths and zinc and dead things, and patientlyexplainsthataNoviisaNova Scotiastylelobsterboatthattheygotfor $ 15,000,and that you can trap conchs “with meat the size of my fist” in wooden boxes, as far north as Rhode Island.
Enotria was the name given to Italy by the Greeks , meaning the“landofwine.”Italyistruly that,alandwithfourmillionacresin vineyards.
Italian wines are extremely popular inPortland.ThelargeItalian-American community has a fondness for them, andthesubsequentlargenumberoffine Italianrestaurantsherefeaturethem.
On the down side, an occasional wine scandal in Italy reinforces an imageofItalianvinothatisofjugqual¬ ityandcarelesslymade.
Awareofthisproblem,Italyenacted the Denominozione di Origine Controllata laws in 1963. These rules, which are similar to French and German regu¬ lations,setstandardsofproductionfor each wine type. In addition, a higher classification, DOCG, “G” for guaran¬ teed) allows for a special government seal to be affixed to bottles of a few wines considered to be of outstanding quality.
Atthiswriting,onlyfourwineshave been designated DOCG: Barbaresco, Barolo Brunello di Montalciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and most recently,ChiantiClassico.
Inadditiontothesecategories,some ofthenewestandmostexcitingItalian wines are simply labelled “Vino da Tavola.” These are wines that have been made with grape varieties native toFrancewhichdefythetraditionalItal¬ ian standards. The most notable exam¬ pleofthisisPieroAntinori’sTignanello and Sassicaia, wines containing all or portions of Cabernet Sauvignon, the Bordeaux grape. These wines can’t be calledchiantibecauseoftheuseofthe French grape.
Moving south to Tuscany, all of the majorchiantiproducershavetheirfine redwinesavailable.Antinori,Ruffino, andBrolioallproduceexcellentchiantis.However,themostinterestingchi¬ anti on the scene is from a smaller producer, Nicholas Monsanto. His chi¬ antiisproducedfromasinglevineyard, “11Poggio,”andthelabelisabeautiful painting of the Tuscan countryside — a wine sure to be remembered by your guests.
BrunellodiMontalcinoisItaly’smost expensive wine. Although the wines of the Biondi-Santi family who actually developed the strain of grapes respon¬ sibleforBrunelloarenotavailablehere,
LIQUID ASSETS
TheWinesof Enotria
two other superior Brunellos are. The Brunello from Villa Banfi is silky and । elegant. The Brunello of Fattoria de j Barbi has been produced for 200 years, j Each neck label has a registration i numberwrittenwithaballpoint.LeaveI ittotheItalians!Itwouldbeimpossible! tomentionorcatalogallthegoodItal¬ ianwinesavailable.However,I’dliketo focus on those wines which show unus¬ ual qualities to me. |
From the Piedmont comes Barolo, madeinavarietyofstyles.
“OldStyle”Baroloisapowerful,long-' lived wine which, when young is often । described as being “liquid charcoal.” Thisstyleisepitomizedbythewinesof Rinaldi — very expensive, very big. I
In a somewhat more elegant style, j the Barolo of Bruno Giacosa is legen- i dary.
Nextdoor,asitwere,isBarbaresco,| produced from the same grape — the Nebbiola — but in a more accessible style.
The name in Barbaresco is Angelo Gaja. His wines really brought Barba¬ resco into prominence. Other good producers in our market are Ceretto and Franco Fiarina. , Furthertothesouth,nearNaples,the Tourasi of Mastroberardino has deve- |
lopedacultfollowinginthiscountry. Grownathighaltitudesontheslopesof Mount Vesuvius, Tourasi ages into a brickredelegantwine.
Inwhiteandsparklingwines,Italyis improving her quality of wine but also perhaps losing some of the older, more authentic qualities that distinguished and made Italian white unique. Fresh and fruity Italian Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs compete with Cali¬ fornian and French products. Whether thenewstyleofItalianwhitesishereto stay, awaits the vote of you, the consumer.
In sparkling wines, Banfi and FaziBattagliabothproduceBrut-stylespark¬ lersthatareconsiderablydrierthanthe traditional Asti Spumante. Quite ap¬ pealing and stylish, but something new forItaly.
The most expensive Italian sparkler available here is a Brut by Bruno Gia¬ cosa made from 100-percent Pinot Noir — another one of those French grapes.
If you sample any of the above it should make your next few weeks a stimulatingadventureintothewinesof the world’s largest wine producing country.
BY DAVID SWARTZENTRUBER
conch meat than they realize, owing to the rumored presence of the creme¬ colored meat in all sorts of famous canned clam chowders.
“Clamsbreakupwhenthey’recanned, so they need something more durable, forconsistency,”sheexplains.
Even Snow’s Clam Chowder? we ask.
That undertow smile again.
“In Rhode Island, conches are an Italianspecialty—conchsalad.Every¬ wherebutatagourmetplaceyou’llsee conchs, because at gourmet places they see them as too pedestrian. Actually, you see conchs as far north as Cape Cod. That’s where the natural barriers are between ecosystems.”
Any children?
“No,cats.1tookoneonthedragger once, and we went out and gave him somefishonthedeck,somenicebutter¬ fish,butthenweturnedaroundandsaw himpullingonajumbofluke,threefeet long, and that thing was worth money, soweputastoptothat.
“Took one out in the winter. Gray Boy. Let me tell you, you do not want tobeonboardwithaseasickcat.
“After the (37-foot) Novi came the dragger, a mixed dragger, 74 feet. We wentgillneeting:seatrout,weakfish, striped bass, mackerel, whiting. But that was 12 years ago. I was 27 then.”
Ever catch anything strange?
“My friends have caught airplanes, World War II airplanes.”
How about you?
“A washing machine!”
What color was your first dragger?
“What year?”
What do you mean?
“We change the colors all the time. You can be 15 to 20 miles out, trying somefishingshoals,andifthewordgets around,you’reintrouble;youknow:‘1 saw So and So overthere,’andtheyjust sort of descend on you. The fog can clearthenextmorningandyoucanfind yourself surrounded by 20 other boats. That’s why we change colors.”
You mean, like a stealth boat? Your reputation precedes you way out there, 20milesout,justapatchofblue,far fromthesightofland?
“The word gets around. Everybody changes colors. We’re not doing the bestandwe’renotdoingtheworst.But we’re very pleased with the Fish Auc¬ tion.”
How long do the boats stay out
there?
“About 14 days.”
Doyoustillgooutthere?
“No.Itakecareofkeepingthebills paid. My husband (co-owner of the company) does contracting to keep the boatsinrepair.”
Doyoumissitafterallthoseyears?
“1couldn’tsleepthroughhaulbacks,” says the intensely competitive Steven¬ son. “I’d feel my blood pressure going up — you know — ‘What do you mean hegotonemorefishthan1did!’I’dget tooexcited.”
What could be improved about Por¬ tland Harbor?
“The dockage is very scarce, even worse than Newport, Rhode Island, and Idon’tfindthatamusingatall.Another reason that Portland hasn’t attracted morebusinessisthelobsterlawonsize andthefactthatyoucan’tlandthem.”
What do you mean?
ThereareprohibitionsonlyinMaine against landing lobsters you’ve caught with a dragger. Here’s an example: Say I’ve come to Portland and I’ve been fishing on the Grand Banks, 100 miles from here, and I’ve caught 40,000 pounds of fish and dragged up 666 poundsoflobster,withthelobsterbeing worth about $2,000. I have to go over to Boston or Gloucester or New Bed¬ ford or anywhere else that will accept those lobsters. Otherwise, 1 have to dump them out before coming into
port.Obviously,it’sabigpaininthe neck.Ithappenedtousthefirstpartof May. We’d dragged 955 pounds of lobster, which were running $4 apiece then.Ittookadaytodetourtheboatto Provincetown, Massachusetts and sell thelobsters,butitwasdefinitelyworth it.”
Both your boats are out now. How often do they go out? Are your crews full-timeemployees?
“Each boat makes about two and a halftripsamonthandhasacrewofless than 10. Technically, none of the crew are employees; each gets a percentage based on gross and expenses, paid at theendofeachtrip.”
Any problems with border conflicts near Canadian waters?
“They’reinstructedtostaywellaway. There are other firms who don’t make a specificpointoftellingtheircrewsto stay away.”
AreyoulivinginPortlandrightnow?
“We’relivingtemporarilyattheLa¬ fayette townhouse right now. We’re all spread out. We have storage in Gor¬ ham,a40’x70’building.”
How successful have you been so far?
“There’s a maxim that a boat should atleastgrosswhattheboat’sworthina year. We’re working at keeping up with that maxim. We’re not noticeably at eitherendofthesuccessspectrum.”
M.C. Schnauck
THE ARTS
PainterSherryMiller,innewwork now on view through August at the Congress Square Gallery, integrates elements of prior work in a new composition that informs these drawings and paintings. The new con¬ struction should be seen as a logical step because of the artist’s expressed interest in the quilt format. Her most recent show at Congress Square (July, 1985) presented stitched patchworks of individuallypaintedlandscapes.
Rembrandt, Turner, and Matisse are Miller’s most admired predecessors. Although their influence on her work seemslimitedtothegeneralcategoriz¬ ing of Rembrandt and figures; Turner andlandscape;andMatisseandtheinte¬ rior;intimeandspirit,ofcourse,Miller is After Matisse as opposed to, say, AfterPicasso.
Miller started showing her work in 1978 and she has worked with figures both naked and clothed, landscapes, andinteriors.Now,inashowthatcould be titled “Figure, Bed, and Window” (with alligators leftover from a prior period),shehasputthemalltogetherin agridthatdividesthecanvasintothree scenes.Afigureliveswithinthevertical leftthree-eighthsofthecanvas,theright five-eighths is divided again horizon¬ tally, a window with landscape filling the top half, a bed the bottom. This order is repeated in 14 x 17-inch oil pasteldrawings,singlyoringroupsof nine, and 40 x 40-inch paintings. The groups have a narrative quality, char¬ acters change from frame to frame, the landscapes — Deer Isle, a lily pond, volcanoes, the Moscow skyline — are seen as through the window of a moving train.Onthebed,thereistheubiquitous quilt.Milleralsowrites,andshemaybe shortcuttingstorytellinginamutepro¬ gressionthatusesthefrankcolorsofa comicstrip.Totheartisttheimagesare reminiscent of Tarot cards, the fore¬ ground figure engaging in its private action oblivious to a world proceeding atitsownpace.
Itseemsinevitablethatnewpossibili¬ tieswillforcetherearrangementofthe currentcomposition.In“PoetandBirch Trees,” there is a hint.-The bed has beenmovedintothefigure’sspace,the figurenowreclines.In“Bringinginthe Spring,” flowers flow through the win¬ dow into the arms of the nude female figure.Itishardtobelieve,withMiller’s
SHERRY MILLER AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR
BY SHIRLEY JACKS
“Third World Window,” 1987, by Sherry Miller.
senseofthehumorousandthepun,that she will be able to resist pushing her figure out the window to look in, or puttingthebedonthelawn,bringingthe human-shaped trees inside, and other suchinventionstopuzzlethemeditation oftheviewer.
Neither composition nor color are Miller’s conscious concerns, however. Her stated intention is to paint the energyintheuniverse,withcolorasan “easy manifestation of energy.” Color waves,Millerbelieves,effectatransfer ofenergyfrompaintingtoviewer,inthe same way that X-rays penetrate the body.Sheseesahealingqualityinall artthatcanbetransferredtotheviewer through contemplation of the painting andhaveaneffectsimilartothatof“a drink, a tranquilizer, or someone lov¬ ing.”Inthefuture,Millerbelieves,peo¬ plewilllearntogotoartastheywould go to a healer of any kind — minister, doctor,acupuncturist.Thisideabrings tomindthestudyofpredellapanelsfor inspiration by church communicants. Millerbelievesthepublicis“onthe brink of making that jump” to art as relieveroftension,killerofpain,and that“allthisartisgoingtostayinour studios until that time.” To that end Milleroffersscenesandplayletscharged withsexualenergyandarangeofother drivingemotions:love,hate,fear,lone¬ liness,abandonment,isolation,clothed inthemostcheerfulofcolors.
REVIEW
Continuedfrompage31 was extremely light, almost too light. Buttheflavorwasthere,subtleinthe way that Maine shrimp are subtle. By comparison the feuillete was bold. The puff pastry was light, but it had been rolledthinenoughsothattherewereno undercooked layers in the center to interfere with the crunch. The sauce was Classic French, plain and simple: brandy, cream, and essence of lobster. BetweencoursesBrattleStreetserves asorbet.Otherrestaurantsdothis,but somemissthepoint:ifthesorbetistoo sweetithastheeffectofcoatingrather thanclearingyourtastebuds;ifitistoo tart,ithasanequalbutsharperanes¬ thetizing effect. On this evening the sorbet was pink grapefruit, which not
Continuedonpage41
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THE LEADING EDGE BUSINESS RELOCATIONS
BY ANTHONY PEARSON ■
Why would anyone want to locatetheircorporatehead¬ quarters, establish a new plant,orenlargeanexistingoperation in Greater Portland?
But to others — particularly those involved in making expansion and relo¬ cationdecisions,theansweristheoppo¬ site.Therealityisdifferentfromthe myth. They will not be interested in Greater Portland until its people get theiracttogetherandmanagebetterthe growththathasoccurred.Aslongasthe area stumbles and bumbles with: in¬ adequateeducationalopportunities,solid waste disposal controversies, parking shortages,rapidlyescalatinghealthcare costs, conflict over workmen’s compen¬ sationlegislation,fuzzyzoningpolicies, air and ground transportation limita¬ tions, homeless people living under bridgesabouttocollapse,uncleartaxa¬ tionpolicies,unequalopportunitiesfor women and minorities, and a host of other problems, the area will not be a sensibleonetoinvestin,muchlesslive in.
But some say, “We’re no worse than many other places.” While that may be true, it is hard to get a community to rally around such a wimpish statement.
To prosper a community needs three ingredients: 1) strong leadership; 2) soundgoal-setting,planning,andimple¬ mentation processes; and 3) widespread followersupport.GreaterPortlandneeds thesethreeingredientsdesperatelyifit istoavoidreturningtothedepression and despondency of the 50’s, 60’s and 70s.Thecurrentsituationisveryfra¬ gileandisbasedmoreon“hot”specula¬ tive investment from outside the state thanonvalue-addingenterprisesflour¬ ishingwithinthestate.
Thumbs Up
RelocationsandExpansions
Great Northern Paper - Relocated Headquarters
Boise Cascade - Relocating Eastern Division by Year End
UNUM - Huge Expansion currently and ongoing
Remstar International (West German Company) - Relocating their Distribu¬ tionCenter
Thumbs Down NearMisses
International Paper CompanyChangedtheirmindsaboutRelocat¬ ing
Addingvalueisthekey—converting raw material and human talent into productsandservicesthatfreepeoplein a market economy will buy. That is why thefirstoftheingredients,leadership, must come from those who know how to add value to raw material and human potential,andtakeittomarketsthrough providing outstanding customer satis¬ faction. Without the knowledge, skill.
and entrepreneurial thrust required to produce wealth, any community devel¬ opment effort is doomed to fail. Those parts of the United States which have createdexcellentcommunitieshavebeen lead by independent, profit-producing manufacturers and merchants who understand and are dedicated to capi¬ talism. Many of these people have made a long-term personal commitment totheircommunitiesandareoftenpart ofsmaller,morestableinstitutionswhich do not move them around frequently fromonestatetoanother.
Entrepreneurialleadershipaloneisn’t enough, however. Others who are in¬ volvedintheconsumptionanddistribu¬ tionofwealth-educators,humanservice providers,andelectedofficialsemployed by not-for-profit businesses, must be involvedinagoalsettingandplanning processwhichutilizestheirskillsand earnstheirsupport.
The third ingredient, widespread commitment to economic development strategies by all citizens, must come fromtheirparticipationincritiquingthe work done by those involved in the planning process.
This participative intergroup team¬ work requires a significant investment of time and energy by many people, but without achieving understanding and commitment very few plans get imple¬ mented. This is why many of the attemptstodealwiththeproblemscon¬ fronting Greater Portland have not bornefruit.
To make this happen, superordinate goals for Greater Portland must be agreed upon so its citizens can rise above narrow, special-interest expe¬ diency. Mutual win/win trust and respect must replace win/lose conflict and no-win/no-lose compromise. Ways to achieve success are well understood and proven. Greater Portland has a wealthoftalentamongitspeopletoget the job done. It doesn’t need outside expertswho,liketheseagull,flyin,eat lunch,dropalloverus,andthenleave.
Undirected, random growth has got¬ ten the area into deep trouble. Strong entrepreneurialleadership,soundprob¬ lem-solving processes, and widespread citizen support can make the 90’s and the21stCenturyagoldenageifwecare enough to consider non-traditional approachestoreplacecurrentfruitless activities,whichclearlyarenotwork¬ ing.
Continuedfrompage39 only nicely found the mean but offered theaddeddiversionofafaint,pleasant bitterness, a much more refreshing and stimulatingflavorthaneitherthesweet orthesour.
If you are one of those people who still‘eatwithrelishtheinnerorgansof beasts and fowl,’ you will enjoy the sweetbreads with madeira sauce, a spe¬ ciality chef Dale Gussett has brought with him from L’Antibes. These are sauteedtothepointofbeingcrustyon the surface but of course retain that uniquely delicate texture within. En¬ riched with demi-glace, the madeira sauceisasrobustasanyIevertasted, butitwasheldinbalancebymeansofa mirepoix.
Inallofthesedishesthepresentation was lovely, but none so lovely as the noisettesoflamb.Totakeadvantageof therichtonesofredmeatservedwitha red wine sauce, however, you must begin with the patient reduction of stocksintosaucesandfollowittothe quick hand and sharp eye, overseeing thefinishingofthedish.Whichbrings up another flaw in my gourmet friend’s
Although some restaurants defy categorization,mostareeitherethnicor hybrid ethnic (e.g. Italian, ItalianAmerican). Ethnic restaurants aspiring toauthenticity,itseems,mustbeahin¬ drancetooriginality.Arethemenusat ethnic restaurants unimaginative? A great many of them, yes. Others, how¬ ever, take advantage of the diversity and imagination of a cuisine which evolved over centuries of experimenta¬ tion and discovery. In these the chef may seldom write the score, but he orchestrates and performs the demand¬ ingpartofinterpreterormedium.This isoneofBrattleStreet’sgreatstrengths: Gussett and sous chef Barry Manson offeramenuthatisdiverse,balanced, and authentic. The element of their creativityisinthecooking,ratherthan in dreaming up dishes for the sake of novelty. Considering the remarkable influence French cooking has had on Western culinary culture since Cathe¬ rine de Medici arrived in Paris in 1547, it is remarkable that Brattle StreetisoneofthefewFrenchrestau¬
rants(perhapstheonlyone)inanarea whose Yellow Pages lists two hundred and sixty-five eating establishments. Has the Old Guard fallen with the nouvelle?Ifithas,Ican’timaginethatitis thefaultofthecuisine,atleastnotasit ispracticedatBrattleStreet.
DennisGilbert,agraduateofColbyCollege,isanaccomp¬ lishedwriterandchef.Overthelast10yearshehasworked asachefinmanyrestaurantsinMaine,includingIhe Vinyard,andwrittenformanyNewEnglandmagazines, including Yankee. HehasalsoworkedontheZ ime/Life “GreatMealsinMinutes”seriesasacontributingwriterfor theFrenchProvincialcuisinechapters.
Soonerthanyouthink. Laterthanyouwish.
Cellulartelephoneserviceiscomingto Mainesoonerthanyoumaythink. In fact,StarCellularisintroducingthecellular revolution to southern Maine and New Hampshirethisfall.
StarCellularcustomerswillbeabletouse mobile telephones virtually anywhere—from theircars,boatsorthemiddleofnowhere.
aplacetoooddlywonderfulforfacile, ‘magaziney’ descriptions. Nova Scotia isneither‘upscale’nor‘downscale’;it’s totallyoffthescale.TaketheMaryland Eastern Shore and chutney it with a gorgeous admixture of French, British Empire,Gaelic,andScottishinfluences, and you’re on your way. As you drive along the “invisible” coast that faces Maine across the Bay of Fundy (the Scotia Prince runs a nearly parallel course from Portland to Yarmouth . . . many Mainers forget that their view of England is blocked by Nova Scotia!), huge white churches appear and disap¬ pear out of mirages set against deep¬ blue, crashing ocean views, thousands ofscallopboats(Digbyisworldfamous forits“Scotiagold”),tall,narrow“Novi” gables, and — prepare yourselves,
TRAVEL
waterfront investors — FOR SALE signs.
Forbetterorworse,itseemsasifthe entire circumference of Nova Scotia waterfront is for sale! With low-tech scrutiny, we counted over 200 bold oceanfrontlotsorhousesforsaleaswe drove the 50 miles from Yarmouth to Annapolis Royal. And the prices? Close your eyes and open wide: In “down¬ town” Annapolis Royal, formerly the historicFrenchsettlementofPortRoyal, there’sathree-storywhitehousefront¬ ingthesaltwaterAnnapolisRiver.Three bedrooms, a wrap-around porch hang¬ ing over the water, a nursery, and a viewoutofNational Geographicareall surroundedbyawhitepicketfencewith a “Wee Deal” real estate sign on it, telephone (902) 245-4785. The house
is 5 houses away from the famed Kings Theatre and gallery district and has a view comparable to one you’d have on the Kennebunk River, on the ocean side of Chick’s Marina. One hundred yards toyourleftisacolorfulclusterofscallop and fishing boats. To your right, a prettyviewoftheAnnapolisbasinand, even more fascinating, the only tidal electricpowergeneratingplantinNorth America(seetheletterfromtheeditor inthisissue),amodernstructurethatis quitepleasingtotheeye.Thispilotpro¬ ject generates 20,000 KW and lights up 1 percent of the province of Nova Scotia! They’d never find you up here! Price for the house is $57,900 Cana¬ dian, which works out to $37,635 U.S. Priceforthepowergeneratingplantis $55 million Canadian.
Tiny Annapolis Royal is the top drawing card on the Bay of Fundy. Only an hour from Yarmouth on the EvangelineTrail,it’sabed-and-breakfast haven where British culture has been curiously, and deliciously, ma¬ rooned. Two strong entries are Bread and Roses, 82 Victoria Street (the name comes from a 19th-century women’s mill rebellion — “We won’t work for just bread. We’ll work for bread and roses!”) and the Queen Anne Inn, both steps away from the won¬ drous Annapolis Royal Gardens. Bread andRosesisaperfectlyrestoredVicto¬ rianbrickmansion,withgrandfireplaces and museum-quality antiques inside. $48 Canadian for a double, complete with country breakfast of breads, jam, and fresh eggs. The Queen Anne Inn costs $53 Canadian, including contin¬ ental breakfast, or you can opt, as we did,forafullbreakfast(friedtomatoes, eggs, marmelade, sausages, bacon, bran muffins,coffee,toast)forthree,which cost $8.75 Canadian. The Queen Anne is the former William Ritchie mansion, commissioned in 1868 as a wedding present for William’s son, Norman, and thebedsaresosofttherethatyoucan dream your way into another century. We even enjoyed the rusty water (like at my grandmother’s house) that filled our elegant tub. Emerging from the grandmother water, we learn at break¬ fastthatthebeautifulverticalstalksof maroon, purple, and white that cover the Nova Scotia countryside like a heathery sweater during summer are calledlupins.
And then, at breakfast, a minor breakthough insight: on our Nova Sco-
tiafreshcreamdispenser(cremeverit¬ able) is written the words “duree proIongee,” extended life. Here in An¬ napolisRoyal,thereisasortofextended life, something like Brigadoon, where you live forever undiscovered in the maritimesandbumpintolostsoulslike RexHarrison’sson,Noel,attheexcep¬ tionally fine Newman’s Restaurant in town. What’s Noel Harrison doing here? Performing in “Adieu, Jacques ...” at the Kings Theatre, a reflection on the life and death of Jacques Brel, con¬ ceived and performed by, you guessed it,NoelHarrison:“Thefirsttime1saw Brel was in a smoky bar in Knokke-leZoute in Belgium. Knokke-le-Zoute is on the North Sea ...” The following week,KingsTheatrewillpresent“White Lies and Black Comedy,” diverting stuff for a town of a few thousand residents.
The Royal Gardens here are as¬ tounding, and even the roughest sensi¬ bilitieswillbesweetenedafterpawing through the helianthemum nummularium (splashes of pink and yellow) and tradescantiavirginianarosea(purple).
For more color, try searching for amethyst, quartz, and agate, which abounds on the Digby beaches. And be sure to try Newman’s Restaurant, 218 George Street, Annapolis Royal, (902) 532-5750, another marooned bit of the British Empire, replete with a matched pair of 7-foot ivory tusks passed down for a century or so to the owners, who have international cuisine experience andasensuousapproachtofinedining, way beyond what you’d expect to find inatownthissize,andfeaturingGrand Pre, Nova Scotia’s own wine, a wine of surprisingqualitywhichisgrown,fer¬ mented, and bottled in Evangeline’s hometown, honest to Longfellow. Gaelic,forgottenbitsoflanguage. Digbyscallopboatsattheendofthe world.
Phrases like “I think I’ll tow that alongside for a while before I pull it onboard,” meaning, ‘I’m not sure I believewhatyou’vejustsaid.’
“Starfish and coffee, maple syrup andjam;appletrees,tangerines,anda side order of ham.” The words are from asongbyPrince,butIsuspecthehadto bed-and-breakfast his way through Nova Scotiabeforefindingtheinspiration!
To book passage on the Scotia Prince, call (207) 775-5616.
Peter/on p) Realty
Front(LtoFt):AdeleAronson,KayLoring.SusanPickett Back (L to R): Ginny Keegan, Leslie Shank, Bob Stevens. Pat Rabidoux, Jackie Brown
Newfictionby Discovered! > Buriedfor63years beneath a pseudonym!
EdnaSaintVincentMillay.*
FICTION
BY NANCY BOYD
(EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY)
tNancy Boyd is to Edna Saint Vincent Millay as Richard Bachman is to Stephen King, f or more information onEdnaSaintVincentMillayand theEdnaSaintVincentMillay Society,contactElizabethBarnett. LiteraryExecutor,Steepletop, Austerlitz,NetvYork12017.
No,no,itisuselesstotrytoreason withme.Itisuselesstothrowdownthe magazine and rush to the telephone and squeak into my ear, “Mydear Nancy! What can youbethinkingof!Cecilis such a charming fellow! And such a sense of humor!”
I know all about that. Ha! Ha! Ha! Pardon my sardonic mirth.
Itwillbedifficulttogetadivorce.He has not deserted me; he has not com¬ mitted that dreadful thing which the prosecuting attorney so prettily calls “misconduct”; his treatment of me has never been cruel and abusive; and he supportsmeinthepenurytowhich1am accustomed. As for incompatibility, — ha! ha! ha! Pardon my derisive shout.
No.Itislikethis.
You know, dear reader, how scream¬ inglyfunnyIam;howfeverishly,month after month, you rip open the magazine and turn, trembling with eagerness, to themenu,toseeifbyanyhappychance there be anhors d’oeuvre by me; how, gasping for breath, you read me aloud to your best friend’s fiance, and he laughssohardhenearlyfallsoutofthe hammock.
Well, as you know, my husband is funny, too. He runs a humorous column in a New York paper, for all the world likeF.P.A.Itisverypossiblethatyou read him every morning with your breakfast.Inwhichcase,ifyouarenot a careful planner, you have more than oncelefttheroomunexcused,withhalf an egg in your wind-pipe, or hurriedly placed a large mouthful of coffee in yournapkin,inordertoavoidspouting itacrossthetable.Foritwouldbeuse¬ lesstodenyit,Cecil’sasfunnyasacat onthestage.
When we were married, everybody said, “How perfect! The wedding of the cap and the bells! The comic sock and mask!”
CecilandIwereofthesameopinion. We were taken in along with everybody else. We expected to go laughing throughlifelikeacoupleofhyenas.We looked forward to a noisy felicity of aching jaws, bursting stays and flying suspender-buttons,broughttoariotous close by our simultaneously dying of laughter.
Well, the first two months were a circus. And neither of us could have toldyouforanewpairofredsilktights, which was the greater fun, to hold the hoop or to jump. We were partners, and
webroughtouteachother’sbest,forthe sakeoftheact.
We rushed from London to Paris, from Madrid to Rome, from Budapest to Prague. And we never lost a trick. Wewerereallygood,ifIdosayit.We never ordered a luncheon, or hailed a taxi,orboughtapostagestamp,butthe air between us snapped with visible sparks. With no polishing or padding and expurgating only the bad words, we could have sold our conversations at a dollarasyllable.1herewasalaughin every line. And as for Cecil’s remark about the Venus of Milo, and mine aboutthefive-francnote,theywereas priceless as they were unmarketable.
At the end of two months we came back to New York, and after hunting up a nice little apartment, which we fur¬ nished with a Hungarian bed-spread, a bit of Moorish porcelain, and a photo¬ graph of Fanny Brice, we proceeded to sprinkle Boeotia with salt. That is to say,wesettleddowntowork,whichfor Cecil meant being funny once a day, and for me being twice as funny once a month.
But after a while, when one of us would say something really good, the other would laugh, and then smile thoughtfully,asiffittingtheremarkinto
FICTION
PRIME
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apossiblesetting.
And one morning there took place between us a conversation something likethis:
1 (scanning the New York Sphere): Why,Cecil,youolddevil,youtookthis from me!
He: What’s that?
I:Why,thisthingaboutthefountains!
He:You’recrazy!1saidthatmyself ... Don’t you remember, we were stand¬ ing by that fountain in the Luxem¬ bourg —
I: I remember perfectly well. And you were quoting me. I had said it myself weeks before in Rome. Don’t you remember, we were standing by the Fountain of Trevi, and—( etc., etc.).
Then one day he caughtmeatit.At least, I never could make him believe thathedidn’t,andperhapshewasright. YourememberthatlittleplayIwrote — it came out in a magazine some time last year — about a young married cou¬ ple, called “For Winter, For Summer ”?
Well,whenCecilsawthetitlehewas furious. He swore it was his, — and
perhapsitreallywas,Ican’tremember.Anyway,hehadforgottenallabout it, and would never have used ithimself,asItoldhim.Butallthe same, he was furious.
And the very next day he took a perfectly stunning remark of mine, something 1 had said while we were quarreling about “For Winter, For Summer,” and stuckitintotheSphere.
From that moment we began to watch each other as a mouse watches a cat. We made up our minds that we would never again riskanythingreallyneatinthefamily circle. And the family circle began speedily to assume the angular proportions of an isosceles trape¬ zoid.
Whenever in an unguarded moment one of us let slip a witti¬ cism,— and it was difficult not to, for we are both, as I have hinted before, screamingly funny — there would ensue a conversation some¬ thinglikethis:
He: Now, that’s mine. And it’s darned good. And I’m going to use it tomorrow, before you get your teethinit.
I:Well,really.1wonderthatI ever achieved a paragraph, before Ihadyourstufftosteal.Orlikethis: 1: Now that’s mine. And you needn’t pretend you didn’t have to laugh, because I saw you. And if you lay one spatulatefingeronit,1’11cutyourheart out.
He:Oh,come,now,Nan.Isn’tthata bitstiff?YouknowonceinawhileIdo haveacorticaltitillationallmyown. Well.Thingshavegottothatpointat lastwhereforweeksonend,notaword isutteredinourhouse.Youmightthink usapairofundertakersinsteadofapair ofhumorists.Thesilencebetweenusis never broken save by a secret chuckle or a sudden slapping of the knee, fol¬ lowedbyacovertscribbling.
As I remarked at the outset of this sordid narrative, by the time you read thesewordsIshallhaveleftmyhusband. Divorcewillbemoredifficult.SinceI havenogroundsfordivorce.ButIdare sayIshallthinkofsomething.
As Henry the Eighth was so often heardtoremark,“Wherethere’sawill, there’saway.
ThePortlandSchoo!ofArt,619CongressSt.,Portland, presents“OilsonCanvas”byPolishartistElizbieta Sikorska (through July 11); and the Summer Session FacultyExhibitionintheAdministrativeOfficeBuilding,97 SpringSt.,Portland(throughAugust21).Alleventsare freeofcharge.775-3052.
PortlandMuseumofArt,7CongressSquare,Portland. 1heCharlesShipmanPaysonCollectionisonceagainon viewattheMuseum.Iheexhibitionof13watercolorsand 4oilsbyHomerremainsonviewthroughthesummer.Ihis summer, the Museum presents “Skowhegan: A Ten-Year Retrospective.”Inhonorofits40thanniversary,theSkow¬ heganSchoolofPaintingandScupturehasorganizedan exhibitionof51worksbyartistswhoattendedtheSchool's programbetweeen1975and1985.Theexhibitioncon¬ tinuesthroughSeptember13.775-6148.
CLASSICAL GUITARIST - Michael Katz. Melodies of Brilliance and Warmth. Weddings, receptions, cele¬ brations. For more info., brochure, demo-tape, call 799-6994 or 761-5870.
OLD PORT — Exquisite professional officesuitesinhistoricWoodmanBuild¬ ing. Shared receptionist, conference rooms, photocopier, kitchen, etc. Call Dawn Fritzson, 773-5651.
DESPERATELY - seeking “special things are rare,” Box 215. Please con¬ tact PortlandMonthly at 773-5250.
ANDROGYNOUS MALE wants to establishclose,fun-lovingrelationship withahighlysophisticated-progressive, securewoman.1like:allarts,travel, ski-tennis-wellnessget-togethers.Sub¬ scriptionto:“EuropeanTravel&Life,” “Vogue.” Born April 12. Legal resident Portland, Maine, September 1, 1987. Box #202, Portland Monthly Classi¬ fieds, 154 Middle Street, Portland, Maine 04101. Securing job in Port¬ land, July 19-25.
tagesoflivingatFerryVillage Landing,adistinguishedcon¬ dominium residence on the shore of Casco Bay in South Portland.Eachofthefifteen homes has an unlimited view ofthePortlandskylineand harbor.Allresidenceshave
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