Features
My Life in Lincolnville
After two decades of life in this Camden Hills hamlet, a resident reflects on the town, the people, and the place she calls home. By Elizabeth Hand
The Love Bugs
The complicated mating rituals of Maine lobsters might make you turn red. Excerpted from The Maine Lobster Book, by Virginia M. Wright, Down East Books, Camden, Maine; hardcover; 114 pages; $14.95.
Q&A: The Lobster Expert
Virginia M. Wright chats with Diane Cowan, founder of the Lobster Conservancy.
The Commute
Going to work on the island of Islesboro is a complex game of hurry up and wait. By Virginia M. Wright
Shadows in the Woods
Do mountain lions inhabit Maine? It depends on who you ask. By Paul J. Fournier
A Wicked Sense of Humor
You might not know entrepreneur Anne Taintor, but you probably recognize her hilarious cards, magnets, and novelties. By Suzanne Rico
Departments
Earth at Hidden Pond
A visit to Earth is well worth the trip. By Michaela Cavallaro
What is Your Favorite Summer Memory?
Readers respond to our monthly “Your Maine” question.
Kids Behind Bars
Maine’s youth correctional system has gone from abysmal to awe-inspiring. By Jeff Clark
Where in Maine?
Can you identify this Maine lighthouse?
The Mail
Letters from our Readers.
Lighthouses for Sale
The federal government is looking for someone to assume ownership of three remote beacons in Maine.
What’s in a Picture?
The Great Portland Flood of 1893.
Herbie’s Legacy
Yarmouth’s most famous elm tree, Herbie, lives on after death.
Coining Acadia
Bass Harbor Light gets on the new Maine quarter.
Bicyclists Not Welcome
High ferry tariffs aim to discourage bicyclists from taking an island day trip.
Hollywood Haggis
A Bangor company sends this Scottish delicacy to a sunshine state soiree.
Stealth Bomber
A B-52 bomber seat goes undetected in the Maine North Woods for fifty years.
The Eyrie on Frenchman Bay
This coastal cottage is a cross between a bungalow and a pagoda. By Edgar Allen Beem
Nature’s Medicine Chest
Entrepreneur and scientist Edie Johnston is on a mission to make the common elderberry Maine’s next big cash crop. By Amy Sutherland
Odd Fellows All
Every August, the Sweet Chariot Music Festival turns Swan’s Island into a musical Brigadoon. By Will Bleakley
A Birder’s Handbook
Two naturalists pen a portable guide to Maine’s feathered favorites.
From Our Archives: August 1954
We look back at the first issue of Down East.
Editor’s Note
Summer in Maine is all about house guests. In the springtime Mainers begin receiving unexpected calls and emails from old college classmates and second cousins twice removed who are planning a trip to the Pine Tree State, and by the way, would we happen to have a spare room where they could spend the night? Being obliging sorts by nature, we dust off the porch, launder the linens, and shake the road sand out of the welcome mat. When you are entertaining company, you want your place to look good.
A Poetry Immersion
Wes McNair, Maine’s fourth poet laureate, is on a mission to place poetry back into everyday life. By Douglas Rooks
August Events Calendar
Go here. Do this. See that.
Cooking on the Coast
At Salt Water Farm in Lincolnville, Annemarie Ahearn teaches the important but often forgotten basics of cooking. By Will Bleakley
My Maine: Strike
A paper mill strike punctuates a father’s death in the childhood of a Mexico Maine girl. By Monica Wood