A Letter from the Executive Director

The high point of the last six months?

Possibly it was the afternoon in May when we made theatrical history with the Portland Stage Company. As part of the public discussion that followed our benefit performance of Margaret Edson's W;t, we brought together on stage two superlative actresses, each of whom had played the central role of Vivian Bearing - Kathleen Chalfant, star of the New York and London productions, and Leslie Denniston, who had delivered a searing performance in Maine. We were delighted that the audience included so many members of this state's health care community, many of them participants in our nationally recognized Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care seminars.

Or maybe it was the Portland Sea Dogs' game one June afternoon at Hadlock Field. Thanks to Charlie Eshbach, the team's president and general manager, the Council was able to introduce the winners of its Letters About Literature contest to the pre-game crowd. Judge Harriet Henry left the bench, so to speak, to pitch the first ball of the day.

Or perhaps it was my first sighting in late summer of an Oakhurst Dairy quart of milk bearing the Council's logo and a brief reminder that we've been delivering the pleasure and power of ideas to people in Maine for 25 years now. Thanks to Oakhurst, in August and September, 470,000 containers of milk carried this message throughout northern New England. If an average of 2.5 consumers saw each Oakhurst container, more than a million people were reminded over the breakfast table of our anniversary year!

As we know, milk builds strong bodies, just as close acquaintance with the humanities builds strong minds. But our efforts in that direction would be diminished had it not been for the Maine Legislature's willingness this summer to continue funding of the New Century Community Program, a collaborative effort by seven cultural agencies in the state. Erik Jorgensen performed miracles, day after day, in shepherding our cause through the complex budget debates in Augusta. I want to thank every one of you who called your state senator or representative on our behalf. This grassroots effort was at the heart of our success. We are deeply grateful.

Dorothy Schwartz

Dr. Geoffrey Gratwick, chair of the Maine Humanities Council, at the microphone at Hadlock Field. Photo by Erik Jorgensen

the Honorable Harriet Henry, a Council board member and former co-chair, and Council Executive Director Dorothy Schwartz on the field June 3 at the start of the Portland Sea Dogs' game. Photo by Susan DeWitt Wilder

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