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April 22, 2001

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SPRING CONCERTS SCHEDULED

The UMM Music Department, under the direction of Gene Nichols, will be offering three spring concerts;
all are at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC.
Optional donations in lieu of admission fees will be accepted.

Monday, April 30, the Chamber Ensemble and Town Band will perform.

Tuesday, May 1, the UMM/Community Chorale will sing John Stainer's The Crucifixion,
plus other selections. Jane Hinson is the Chorale accompanist.

Wednesday, May 2 showcases the Pop Band, which this semester features the
Parker family--Jeanne, John and Ian--and the Intermedia Improvisation Group,
a cornerstone of UMM's Interdisciplinary Fine Artsdegree program.

For more information contact Nichols at 255-1229.

2001 SPRING AUTHORS SERIES AT UMM

Announcing the 2001 Spring Authors Series at UMM.  All events are free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 26 at 3 p.m. at the George Simpson Murdock Bookstore in the CLL:

Book Reading/Signing featuring author and poet Miriam Colwell who will read from her novel Young
and UM Professor of English and editor of Puckerbrush Press Dr. Constance Hunting who will read from
Chenoweth Hall's novel The Crow on the Spruce. Welcome by President John Joseph; Introduction of guest
readers VPAA David Rosen. Refreshments and book signings to follow reading.

For further information, please contact Susan Palmer, Development Office, 255-1284,
or David Rosen, VPAA Office, 255-1224.

Sunday, April 29 at 4 p.m. Portside in Kimball Hall:

Maine Poet Laureate Baron Wormser will read from his poetry.
Free to the Public. Reception to follow.  Hosted by Araby.
For more information, please contact Gerard NeCastro at 255-1293.

Monday, April 30 at 6 p.m. Portside in Kimball Hall:

Washington County High School Writers Symposium. Washington County's finest young writers will read
their prize-winning works. Maine Poet Laureate Barron Wormser will present the keynote address.
Hosted by Araby.
For more information, please contact Gerard NeCastro at 255-1293 or Jodie Handrahan at 483-9660.

Wednesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. Portside in Kimball Hall:

Poet and Musician Dick Lourie. Hosted by Araby.
For more information, please contact Gerard NeCastro at 255-1293 or Nicole Ball 255-8862.

MAINE'S POET LAUREATE BARON WORMSER AT UMM

Baron Wormser, Maine's poet laureate, will read selections of his poetry on
April 29th at 4:00 at Portside in Kimball Hall at UMM.
Baron Wormser currently resides in Hallowell, Maine.  He began writing and
reading poetry when he was in high school.  Because Mr. Wormser believes
that in order to write poetry one must read poetry, he continues to be an
avid poetry reader.
Mr. Wormser received his undergraduate degree from The John Hopkins
University in 1969, and his advanced degrees from the University of Califonia,
Irvine in 1970 and the University of Maine in 1972.
Mr. Wormser is a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for
the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.  He is also a
recipient of the Frederick Prize from Poetry Magazine and the
Kathryn A. Morton Prize.
Baron has published five books of poetry which include: The White Words,
1983; Good Trembling, 1985; Atoms, Soul Music and Other Poems, 1989; When,
1997; and Mulroney and Others, 1997.  He is also the co-author of Teaching
the Art of Poetry, which was published in 2000.
When asked what advice he might give to young writers, Mr. Wormser said,
"Be willing to revise your work.  Revision is crucial to becoming a serious
writer.  The attempt to make a work of writing better is as exciting, in
its way, as the initial burst of imagination."

The reading is free and open to the public.  A reception will follow the reading.
For further information, please contact Gerard NeCastro at 255-1293.

RELAY FOR LIFE

The Unobskey School is hosting a team for the annual Relay for Life for the Cancer fund.   We would
like to extend the invitation to any within the UMM community to come and join us on May 18-19.
The event is an 18 hour relay on the campus of WCTC.  Some of us will be camping out, while others
will be part of the opening event and then walk their required half an hour and go home.
This event is in it's 3rd year and is great fun for all involved.  There is free food and entertainment all
night and each team member gets a t-shirt.  Each team has a theme and dresses up and decorates their
camp-site with the theme in mind.
Our theme is:
Peace, Love and a Cure for Cancer.
Costumes will involve tie-dyed, flowers, bell-bottom pants etc.

There are ways to participate beyond joining us as a team member.
You can:

THE WAYNE MARTIN PUPPETS TO APPEAR AT UMM

Stage Front: The Arts Downeast will present "The Wayne Martin Puppets" on April 27, 2001 at the PAC
at UMM. There are still tickets available for the evening performance on April 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC.
The ticket prices for the evening show are $10 adults, $8 seniors and non-UMM students, and $6 children.
For more information or to reserve tickets call (207) 255-1384.

AUTHOR, PUBLISHER TO PRESENT READINGS APRIL 26 AT UMM
Miriam Colwell, Constance Hunting to Appear at George Simpson Murdock Bookstore

Two prominent Maine women-a writer and a professor-publisher-will read from literary treasures
at 3 p.m., Thursday, April 26, in the George Simpson Murdock Bookstore at UMM.
Miriam Colwell of Prospect Harbor, whose 1955 novel "Young" is enjoying a resurgence of interest since
its recent republication, and Constance Hunting, owner-editor of Puckerbrush Press will be
the guest readers.
Noted Maine author, Sanford Phippen has described Colwell as one of Maine’s best writers. Her novel,
"Young," had just been republished when Phippen introduced Colwell to viewers of last year’s Maine Public
Television series "A Good Read.’ Her first novel, "Wind off the Water," came out in 1946 and according to
Phippen, "caused a stir as great as Carolyn Chute [‘The Beans of Egypt, Maine’] and almost as great as
Grace Metalious with ‘Peyton Place.’"
In a 1955 letter to Colwell at the time of the first release of "Young," author and critic May Sarton saluted
the freshness, clarity and honesty of the novel’s perceptions that were "uncompromisingly true to the
characters involved."
Constance Hunting was born in Providence, Rhode Island and moved to Maine more than three decades
ago.  In addition to her professorship at the University of Maine (Orono), Hunting is a poet, pianist and
publisher with her own press and literary magazine, "The Puckerbrush Review." Phippen described her as
"a major force in the Maine literary community who has launched a number of other writers
with her press."
Colwell will read from "Young" and Hunting’s reading will be from "The Crow on the Spruce," by the late Chenoweth Hall. Hall was a writer, sculptor and former art instructor at UMM.
Houghton Mifflin published "The Crow on the Spruce" in 1946 and it was republished in 1999 by Puckerbrush
Press. Hall was a gifted watercolor artist, violinist and prize-winning novelist. She was born in Indiana and
spent her formative years in New York’s modern art circles before moving to Prospect Harbor in the 1940s.
Her direct association with the University of Maine at Machias was as a professor of art and artist-in-residence
from 1968 to 1977.
Susan Palmer, UMM’s director of development, said the readings represent the latest in a series of special
events at the bookstore which opened last year as an added feature of the CLL.
The public is invited to the readings and will have an opportunity to meet the authors following the readings.
Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 255-1284.
From Wayne Lobley

HONORS PROGRAM TO BE HIGHLIGHTED APRIL 24 AT UMM

The UMM community and the public are cordially invited to attend a program highlighting the purpose
and activities of the newly revitalized UMM Honors Program. It will be held on Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m.
in Kimball Hall.
Three graduating members of the Honors Program will give talks on their Honors Theses. History major
Beth Dyer will present her finding in "Downeast Women in World War Two: An Oral History." Environmental
Science major Aman Luthra will discuss local reactions to state efforts to manage soft-shelled clams.  Luthra
interviewed clammers and the chairs of municipal shellfish committees. Josh Urbanski, an English major,
analyzed a variety of "popular" and "literary" novels and will speak about the difference between
the two forms.
In addition to the Honors Theses, the program will feature a talk based on a paper written by an Honors
students in Professor Cindy Huggins’ Honors Seminar, Introduction to Women’s Studies. Honors students
in that class wrote on the theme of "borders." The University of Maine at Machias Honors Committee will
select one of those papers for submission to The Maine Scholar, published annually by the Honors
Programs of the University of Maine System.
The presentations in Portside will be followed by a reception at the O’Brien House, the President’s
residence, hosted by John and Marlene Joseph.
From Wayne Lobley

POET-BLUESMAN DICK LOURIE IN MACHIAS MAY 2

Poetry and blues meet at the crossroads May 2 in a Machias performance by Somerville, Massachusetts,
poet and blues musician Dick Lourie.
Lourie is the author of three volumes of poetry, including in 1998 "Ghost Radio," now in its fourth printing.
Last year he released a CD, "Ghost Radio Blues," that turns his poems into collaborations with an assortment
of skilled blues band musicians. On the recording, Lourie speaks the poems himself and contributes
tenor saxophone solos.
Appearing Wednesday, May 2, at 6 p.m. in Portside, Kimball Hall, University of Maine at Machias, Lourie will
perform as a solo artist, using instrumental tracks from his CD as he speaks the poems live and plays the sax.
Of a recent solo appearance in New York City, Poetry Project director Ed Friedman said, "On a cold January
night at the Project, Dick Lourie rocked and charmed. His honking and smooth rhythm-and-blues tenor sax
provided a perfect counterpoint to the astute and sweet remembrances in
his poems - a terrific evening."
Lourie is a founding and continuing editor of Hanging Loose literary magazine, now in its thirty-fourth year,
and of Hanging Loose Press, soon to publish its hundredth title. His verse has appeared in such magazines
as Chicago Review, Sun, Exquisite Corpse, Massachusetts Review, and Ms. His poem "Forgiving Our Fathers"
was read as the moving climax to the popular independent film "Smoke Signals."
The late Denise Levertov wrote of Dick Lourie's poetry: "[It] has never failed to give me a keen sense of his
integrity and individuality. His sturdy syllabic prosody provides a natural framework for his quintessentially
American themes..." Novelist Alison Lurie has observed that Lourie's poems "are like sudden, dramatic
snapshots of true feeling and memory"
Notwithstanding the central role of words and writing in his life, Lourie is also an active musician. He plays
tenor sax with three small Boston-area bands: the Blue Suede Boppers (1950s rock and roll); the G-Clefs
(five-part doo-wop); and Six of One (blues, R&B, soul, funk). Lourie also performs regularly with
Big Jack Johnson and the Oilers, a nationally-known blues band. Members of these groups can
be heard on "Ghost Radio Blues."
Dick Lourie's appearance at UMM is sponsored by Araby, the English Club.
Admission to the May 2 performance is free to the public.
Direct any questions about the Lourie visit to Professor Gerard NeCastro at telephone 255-1293.
From Wayne Lobley

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