Bailey Island, Memories, Pictures & Lore is a wonderful visual history of the little Maine island. What is your connection to the island?

I was born and raised on Bailey Island in the 40’s and 50’s. My father was a house painter and my mother, a seamstress and cook. Our family of five children and parents lived in the three upstairs rooms of the 150 year old house that my grandparents owned. The home still stands overlooking Lowell’s Cove on the west side of Bailey Island.

Non-fiction books are often organized by time. In your book, you follow the history of the island by location, from one end to the other. Why did you make that decision?

It was difficult to organize all the information I wanted to include in my book because the time span is 150 plus years. Some pictures from the late 1800’s were included as well as my own pictures and memories of the mid-1900’s. I decided to show Bailey Island from the north end to the south end, including all the history and my connection along the way.

As a child, with the ocean all around you, did you feel isolated on the island?

Until I was a teenager and went to the mainland to high school, I left the island only a few times a year. This was true for most of the island children. First, there was little money to spend on such excursions and little need for children to journey off. I must say I always had a nagging feeling or a longing to explore beyond the island. In the summer many people from far away came to stay in their cottages and the daily steamboat brought tourists to visit. We mingled with them. My curiosity about the outside world grew stronger as I matured. In that sense, I guess you could say I felt somewhat isolated.

Do you feel you had more adventure on the island than did children on the mainland?

Island children had more adventure in the world of nature and more freedom to explore than children living on the mainland in organized neighborhoods. We had to learn to swim early in life because we were always exposed to the ledges, beaches and oceans around us. We were often unsupervised while roaming the island because our parents had to work. We learned early on how to take care of each other.

Did you write as a child?

Writing was an important task in school as well as a pastime at home. I kept diaries like my family before me had done. We wrote many stories, poetry and reports on foreign lands in school. Public speaking and reciting poetry was an important activity in school as well as the many plays our elementary school performed for the island people.

What did you read?

I read many comic books, the large volumes of Bible Stories for children as well as the regular school texts. I really don’t remember many novels available. Little Black Sambo was one of my favorite stories. I am glad to see it finally back in print.

After college, you traveled. Where did you go?

My first trip out of Maine was to Washington, D.C. to stay with a friend who was employed in the U.S. capital building. I had just finished one year of teaching and had a strong desire to expand my horizons. I had a meeting with Margaret Chase Smith, Maine’s senator, who encouraged me to teach overseas with the Department of Defense. I received an assignment to teach in Berlin, Germany, the year the infamous wall went up. This was the beginning of my travels and I’ve traveled ever since. I prefer remote places such as the Amazon River, Patagonia, the Galapagos Islands and Iceland. I find it refreshing to mingle with people from different cultures.

Do you think traveling has influenced your writing?

Traveling has very much influenced my writing. In Bailey Island... you will not see that influence so much. However, while teaching in Illinois I organized the Geography Bee online for our six elementary schools in West Chicago. This was a way I could use my interest and knowledge of geography while at home in Illinois.

What inspired you to write Bailey Island...? When did you begin?

Bailey Island, Memories, Pictures and Lore was my first and only published book. I felt the need to put the family documents and pictures in a published volume for my family as well as for people living or interested in Bailey Island history. In clearing out my father’s saved pictures and papers, I knew much of it would be distributed to the Harpswell Historical Society or would be divided among family members so it was urgent to start on this quickly in 2000 when my mother died. It took me two years to finish Bailey Island, Memories, Pictures and Lore.

People are often surprised by some of the photos and documents in your book. What kind of questions have you had about some of those?

Most of the comments or questions about my book refer to the Ku Klux Klan. “Why did they come to Orr’s and Bailey Island?” “How long did they stay?” “Why did they leave?” I think most people are familiar with the Ku Klux Klan and take great interest in the organization. Of course, there are always comments about my grandmother’s quilt and the Helen Keller connection. Everyone loves Helen Keller and women, especially, are interested in the making of a quilt.

Are you still a frequent visitor to the island?

Now that I am retired, I travel to Bailey Island five or six times a year. The contrast in the seasons along the working waterfront is unbelievable. My visits bring to life the many memories I have.

Do you still travel?

I still travel worldwide, with my husband, my sister, or my children. My family also takes annual trips to the Boundary Waters in Ely, Minnesota and Springbreak to Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola, Florida. These are camping trips that our family and friends have taken for forty years.

What are you writing now?

I am hoping to publish a children’s book soon. It will be about my grandmother’s connection with Helen Keller. During my career as a Library Learning Center Director I introduced third grade students to Biography by informing them about Helen Keller and showing them my grandmother’s letters. The children’s response and interest in Helen’s blindness and isolation sparked an interest in me to write a book for that age group. I also write many miniature books for my grandchildren. Each book covers something about my travels or their adventures.

Has writing Bailey Island... altered your life in any way?

The greatest change in my life from publishing this book is the connections I have made. I have communicated with authors who have published works about some of the families connected to the island. I have visited archives of Helen Keller’s. The famous musical Root family, summer residents of Bailey Island, have led me to the Historical Society of Massachusetts where George F. Root lived and taught music. When I left the island after college, I lost contact with many island children that I grew up with, especially those who had also left the island. After Bailey Island... was published many of these now-grown friends have made contact with me. This is probably my greatest pleasure. What is life if it doesn’t include memories? And, it is the memories that I have shared with these friends.