Maine Humanities Council

David Greenham and Dennis Price make a point with a portrait. (Photo credit: Diane Hudson)

A major public event this fall for the MHC is our ongoing theater of ideas touring program, “As Maine Grows…”, a wacky presentation of the history of growth in Maine and what it means for our future. It was created and is being performed by the Theater at Monmouth’s David Greenham and Dennis Price, two very funny guys, and is happening all around the state through November. To find out more, visit our website.

Tony Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, is well known for his exploration of America’s ongoing interest with the Civil War book Confederates in the Attic. Since then, however, he has gone on several more journeys into the past, both literally and figuratively. The most recent history travelogue, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World, offers readers an entertaining and informative look at the adventures (and misadventures) of several early explorers in North America and the impact they had on the Native American population.

› Continue reading

Zora Neale Hurston at the New York Times Book Fair, Nov. 1937. Photo courtesy Library of Congress

On October 17, the MHC is presenting “Looking for Zora: the Many Lives of Zora Neale Hurston” at Bates College in Lewiston. This public symposium includes discussions of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston’s pivotal text that epitomizes many of the contrasts in her life. Please join us for a fascinating day.

Robert L. Woodbury

Bob Woodbury had been off the MHC Board for two years when he died on September 12, 2009, but he had been in close contact with many staff members during that period as an informal adviser and friend. Bob spent his life helping others, often as an educator. In Maine, as a faculty member and then President of the University of Southern Maine, founder of the Edmund Muskie Institute of Public Affairs, and Chancellor of the University of Maine System, his impact on education in the state was tremendous. He took his knowledge to the MHC Board during the first decade of this century, helping to direct the organization through a period of growth and transition. We will all remember the wisdom, kindness, and sense of humor that were always present in Bob, making any conversation with him a great discussion.