For Now And Ever

A Most Unusual Gift of Love

Dear Reader,

The drawing you see above is called For Now and Ever. It is completely composed of dots of ink. After writing the poem, I worked with a quill pen and placed thousands of these dots, one at a time, to create this gift in honor of the the love of two of my dearest friends.

Now, I have decided to offer For Now and Ever to those who have known and value its sentiment as well. Each litho is numbered and signed by hand and precisely captures the detail of the drawing. As an anniversary, wedding, or Valentine’s gift for your husband or wife, or for a special couple within your circle of friends, I believe you will find it most appropriate.

Measuring 14" by 16", it is available either fully-framed in a subtle copper tone with hand-cut double mats of pewter and rust at $135*, or in the mats alone at $95*. Please add $14.50 for insured shipping and packaging. Your satisfaction is completely guaranteed.

My best wishes are with you.

The Art of Robert Sexton • P.O. Box 581 • Rutherford, CA 94573

All major credit cards are welcomed through our website. Visa or Mastercard for phone orders. Phone (415) 989-1630 between 10 a.m.-6 P M PST, Monday through Saturday. Checks are welcomed; please include the title of the piece and a contact phone number on check. Or fax your order to 707-968-9000. Please allow up to 5 to 10 business days for delivery. *California residents- please include 8.0% tax

Please visit my Web site at www.robertsexton.com

Contributors

SUZANNE STREMPEK SHEA

Western Massachusetts native and New England Book Award winner Suzanne Strempek Shea (“The Promised Land,” p. 108) has written six novels and five books of nonfiction. She directs the writing program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Mass., and teaches in the University of Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program. Her newest book is A Year at Blue Star, coming in April 2017 from Levellers Press. suzannestrempekshea.com

GEOFFREY DOUGLAS

Journalist Geoffrey Douglas (“The Conscience of a Chief,” p. 116) is a longtime Yankee contributor and the author of four works of nonfiction. His book The Game of Their Lives: The Untold Story of the World Cup’s Biggest Upset, about the 1950 U.S. soccer team, was made into a 2005 movie starring Gerard Butler. His previous pieces for Yankee include “‘The Town Is Gone’” (July 2014).

ANNIE B. COPPS

Longtime Boston-area chef and former Yankee food editor Annie B. Copps (“Phylum, Class, Order, Family,” p. 34, and “The ‘New’ New England Cooking,” p. 52) is a freelance food, wine, and travel writer. Recent gigs have taken her around our region, across the U.S., and around the world as a consultant and cooking instructor, and she’s a frequent guest on a variety of radio and TV programs. intellibelly.com

CHERYLE ST. ONGE

Photographer Cheryle St. Onge (“The Promised Land,” p. 108) has taught at Clark University, Maine College of Art, and the University of New Hampshire. Her work focuses on the crossover of art and science and photography’s ability to distill our sense of time and curiosity. Born in Worcester, Mass., she currently lives in Durham, New Hampshire, and coastal Maine. cherylestonge.com

KEN SHELDON

Humorist Ken Sheldon (“Only in New England,” p. 24) is a lifelong resident of our region, except for two brief stints when he lost his way and lived in California. (He has pretty much recovered.) As Fred Marple, he’s the author of Welcome to Frost Heaves (Islandport Press, 2015), a humorous collection of stories from “the most underappreciated town in New Hampshire.” kensheldon.com, frostheaves.com

HEATHER PERRY

For “The Two Worlds of Bill De La Rosa” (p. 128), Maine-based photographer Heather Perry traveled to Mexico and Arizona, capturing Bill at his mother’s home and at the home he shares with his father and siblings. She also followed Bill as he interacted with Bowdoin professors and friends on the Maine campus. “Bill’s story was very moving,” she told us, “and it will stay with me.” heatherperryphoto.com

‘The Storm That Will Never Be Forgotten’

I’ve just finished reading the story of Hurricane Irene’s affects on Wilmington, Vermont [July/August, p. 120]. My husband’s family is from Brattleboro, and we travel Route 9 quite frequently. Many a time while stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Route 9 and Route 100, we’ve seen the water level recorded from 1938. We’ve often spoken of how hard it was to imagine water that high. During recent trips we’ve seen the new recording of the water level from 2011 and still can’t fathom water that high. Your story highlights the resilience and sense of community of the people in Wilmington, especially in a situation so severe. To overcome such tragedy with a willingness to rebuild and not abandon certainly proves the recent state motto of “Vermont Strong.”

Nancy & Michael Majdak Forestport, New York

‘Is Connecticut Really New England?’

You bet your arse we’re New England [July/August, p. 112]. We’ve been here from the beginning of our country. Heck, BEFORE the beginning. While even here in Connecticut we deride the “New Yorkers” from the “Gold Coast,” even THEY live in NEW ENGLAND. I always have and will continue to identify myself as a Yankee.

Cathy Harbeson Rocky Hill, Connecticut

As a Connecticut native, 12 generations removed from when ancestors on both sides settled in the New Haven/ Milford/Fairfield/Westport area, I read Richard Conniff’s story with special interest. I grew up in Roxbury, and if there’s a more quintessential New England town, I have yet to see it, and I can say that, having traveled for a dozen years as a salesman to most of the nooks and crannies of our six-state region.

Connecticut is a border state, and border states and countries naturally take on some characteristics of their neighbors; in my state’s case, that would be New York City. I grew up a Yankees fan, as they were the closest team (two miles closer than the Giants), so I “boo” the Red Sox throughout the baseball season. Regardless, I think of myself as a New Englander. One needs to leave the I-91 and I-95 corridors and travel the winding two-lane roads to experience the charm that is Connecticut.

John Botsford Coleman Scarborough, Maine

Write us! Send your comments to: editor@YankeeMagazine.com. Please include where you reside. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Foliage Season

Oaks of autumn shed their shade

And drop a ticker-tape parade all brings visitors to New England by the tens of thousands. And no, I’m not speaking here about the leaf peepers who tour during the short, spectacular weeks of color, but the more than 60,000 foreign students who come to New England’s colleges each September. And, also, the thousands of other ethnically and economically diverse students from across the United States who arrive to attend colleges and prep schools whose doors, only a generation ago, once opened to only a very few. Today our colleges and private schools actively seek students with different life experiences, knowing that the only way to prepare young people for a complex, diverse world is to start right here, right now. The leaders of these institutions know that as their campuses change, inevitably there will be bumps along the way, stumbles that will demand heartfelt, difficult conversations, student to student, faculty to student.

That settles, fluffy and soufflé-like, Leaving streets October day–like.

— D.A.W.

I mention this because I met a young man named Bill De La Rosa (“The Two Worlds of Bill De La Rosa,” p. 128). He graduated in May 2016 from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and during his four years there his story became part of the lives of his fellow students and teachers. His legacy is still being written, but the people whose lives he touched say that knowing Bill De La Rosa has changed them. While his story may inspire some readers, I know there may be others who will feel that he doesn’t deserve his honors, or maybe even empathy. After all, his mother crossed a border illegally. For me his story isn’t narrowed by politics or immigration laws. I was struck by how he embodied the tenacity that settled New England. When I visited the Bowdoin campus, everyone used the same words to describe Bill De La Rosa: “relentless, determined.” No matter where you travel in our region, you see the accomplishments of people who over the past 400 years have journeyed here, like Bill, from distant places. They too were relentless, no matter what hardships they found on these rocky shores.

From the northern reaches of New Hampshire to Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River spills over 400 miles through the heart of New England. The husbandand-wife team of Daniel Sullivan and Yankee managing editor Eileen Terrill followed the river’s path southward, watching fall unfold along the way (“30 Days of Wonder,” p. 90). What they saw and what photographer Carl Tremblay found makes for an odyssey of beauty, history, and discovery that defines why fall in New England is unlike anywhere else on earth. Come along on their journey. Create your own. Let us know what you find.

Mel Allen, Editor editor@YankeeMagazine.com

2016 South County Events