interesting reads

The Hayfield Forever. "The Mystery of Poet Demod Smith and his Final Lines, Posthumously Annotated and Published by ForeverPrized.com, Inc."
     A site -and a story- that characterizes itself as providing "highly experimental writing and poetry" about the last poem of the above named poet. The site's links and narratives go on about a sleazy website owner who has stolen the thunder [and the publishing rights] of the deceased from his wife and family. Not funny, but not unheard of. By the way, I tried on Google to located anything I could about Dem Smith and came up blank. Go figure. It's an entertaining read, whatever the facts of the case.
     You might also check in on Hayfield Forever's FaceBook Page.

A is for Allagash. Born April 30, 1920, Lou Pelletier worked as a lumberman/contractor all his life. Refuses to retire. Recently built a log camp for sale. This is a link to his life's memoir, A IS FOR ALLAGASH: MEMOIR OF A LUMBERJACK, co-written with his daughter, author Cathie Pelletier.
     This is on ordinary backwoods self-publishing effort. Some well-known personalities have taken the time to endorse this small book. Janet Mills, Maine’s Attorney General, wrote the foreword. Hollywood film director Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith; Bourne Identity) gave an endorsement, as did country music icons Tanya Tucker and Doug Kershaw.
     So how did this memoir come about?
     “I’ve been writing down my parents’ memories for over thirty years,” says Cathie Pelletier, the author of 9 published novels, two of which became television films. “This book was done to celebrate my father’s life and share his memories with his family, friends and past business associates.”
     The book has 26 pages of text, one for each letter of the alphabet, along with illustrations or colorized photos to compliment the words. Local artist Lulu Pelletier, of Fort Kent, did most of the illustrations. She visited with Louis in Allagash and asked him questions about the log drives and particularly the workings of a ferry boat. Other illustrations range from log drive images to the flora and fauna of the Allagash region.
     You can order a copy from Northern Maine Books.

books - in general

     My spouse and I are inveterate lovers of books' reading material on paper still has an aesthetic quality to it that I have not found in electronic format. Besides, there is something immediate and tangible about actually seeing shelves lined up with tomes and trashy novels alike.
     So it ought come as no surprise that I shall occasionally expound upon a number of book at once; much like I do with my random website wanderings.
     I'll keep it reasonable. Shall limit the number of books I write about each time; shall try to remain within a specific subject matter; and the entries will be annotations rather than lengthy reviews.
     Mind you, I'm not trying to proffer business for the big name vendors such as Barnes + Noble or Amazon, or even Half.com, for that matter.
     I far prefer supporting indie booksellers like Printed Matter, NYC; Papayri, North Adams, MA; Burgundy Books, East Haddam, CT; or even Powell's in Portland, Oregon. I encourage folks to buy their books local.
     From what you see in the picture, the books I gather do not have to be new. When the subject warms to me, the book I end up picking up could be some newly printed beauty ~ with that smell of printer's ink still present; or it could been some dog-eared items I found at the book swop bin at the transfer station.
     My shame here is ~ that I have collected so many books that the attic rafters house many, and I even pay rent on a storage unit to house them all. I'll have a first list of books in the coming days