Great news! An interpretive map is now available for the loop road on our new National Monument. The map is the first gift to the Monument from the group, Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters, a nonprofit founded in January to raise private funds for the Monument. “Though not yet a year old, the organization […]
Linda and I recently visited Attean Lake Lodge in Jackman (www.atteanlodge.com) for our travel column, and I was astonished by this historic sporting camp. I of course knew of it, but had no idea how special it is. The land surrounding this large lake in Jackman is protected by a conservation easement managed by […]
For the third year in a row, Linda and I spent a May weekend at Claybrook Mountain Lodge in Lexington, Plantation, where owners Greg and Pat Drummond offer birding weekends. Greg and our mutual friend Ron Joseph are our birding guides and do a superb job, identifying 100 species this particular weekend including 20 species […]
Last year Down East Books published my book, Maine Sporting Camps, a bit of history, lots of information about each camp, and great stories from longtime guests and customers. One of my favorite stories came from Dick Mosher, a master guide for 54 years. I had a fascinating telephone conversation with Dick, and he followed […]
You have to give Jeff Ryan credit for his determination, stamina, and love of the outdoors. It took Jeff 28 years to hike the Appalachian Trail, and many of his sectional hikes were, well, not much fun. That’s my opinion, only. He loved every hike, and that love and enjoyment comes through in his book, […]
George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.
