Every Sunday when I was a kid, my mother would drag me to Enfield, Maine to visit with my great-grandmother. Enfield is probably the most boring place in the world for a preteen—isolated, sleepy, heavily wooded but with no real discernible features. Barely even a television set. At a…
Originally published in Bangor Metro magazine (June 2017). Ryan Waning tells me a joke. Two elderly men are in a nursing home guessing each other’s ages in an (ahem) unconventional way. It’s not tasteless, but it borders on the crass. I consider opening this article with it, hesitate,…
There’s a bit of initial awkwardness in this Jon Lemke interview. He’s reticent, the answers to questions coming short and guarded. But once you find some common ground—in this case, our shared military service—he warms up a little. The answers start flowing more freely. He’s…