Aroostook County has no shortage of role models for productive nonagenarians.
Glenna Johnson Smith of Presque Isle was 90 when her first collection of essays was published, and this year she is celebrating the release of a sequel at age 94.
At 92, Philip Turner of Caribou has just released his eighth book and has two in the pipeline: one at the publisher and one on his computer.
“Some say they want to retire early so they can play for 30 years,” Glenna said recently. “I don’t think any of us came into the world to play for 30 years. If we can’t do something worthwhile, we should get out of the way of those who can.”
Glenna had written plays and poetry before she retired from teaching in 1990, but she has produced most of her writing since age 70. Her essays, short stories and occasional features have appeared in most of the 105 editions of Echoes magazine.
More than 30 of those pieces were collected in a book titled “Old Maine Woman,” published by Islandport Press in 2010. The book was so successful the publisher assembled another collection, which was released in June. Titled “Return of Old Maine Woman,” the new book contains 32 more essays and stories.
Whether she is writing, entertaining visitors or just thinking in the living room of her home, Glenna is always creating stories. She recalls her childhood growing up in coastal Hancock County, her introduction to farm life in Aroostook County after she married her college sweetheart, and her almost 50 years as a high school teacher.
She loves to exercise her imagination, stretching familiar life experiences into often hilarious exaggerations. Her humorous public readings never fail to fill a room with laughter.
As she grows older, her self-effacing humor puts a light touch on challenges that others might lament — from using a cellphone to riding a motorized grocery cart.
Phil Turner focuses his imagination on history. Educated as a biochemist with a career in agriculture, he is nonetheless motivated to imagine the unwritten personal stories associated with historical events.
His recent book, “Champlain in Maine,” portrays what it was like for Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, to explore what is now Maine and Atlantic Canada. Drawing on Champlain’s journals for details and quotations, he imagines the world of 1604 when the rivers were roads and Indians inhabited North America.
Published to honor the 2014 World Acadian Congress hosted by Acadian communities in northern Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick in August, the book contains both French and English versions of the story.
“We’ve read Longfellow’s poem [“Evangeline”]. I thought I could put it a different way,” Turner said in a recent interview. His book traces Champlain’s efforts to fulfill a mission dictated by France’s King Henri IV to establish a New France in North America.
“I’m only telling the background,” he said, explaining that his book is “not about the English people who came up to drive [the French] off. I left that to Longfellow.”
Publication of the story became a community effort. “I went to the Caribou Public Library and asked the librarians to get me all the books about Samuel de Champlain, the French in the 1600s, and any book about the Indians in Maine,” Turner wrote in his introduction. “I then consulted my former teacher and editor, Dr. Ronald Dow, retired educator from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.” Dow suggested the title for the book.
“Knowing I needed help with spelling and sentence structure, I looked for help and discovered Ms. Cherie Black, a professional English tutor at Caribou High School,” he wrote, adding that Mary Lou Brown also edited the story to make it more complete.
Well-known local artist Richard Clark of Perham provided the cover illustration as a gift. Both Richard and his wife, Susan, made suggestions after reading the text.
Local forester Delbert Ramey helped Turner determine what the explorers might have eaten. Genealogist Allen Voisine took him to the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine in Fort Kent to research maps and French names.
“People said it should be in French so I found translators,” he told me. Paul Gutman did the initial translation, with Lise Collins and Wanda Theriault providing additional suggestions.
“Everyone got in on it,” Turner said, crediting his neighbor and friend Debbie Sirois for being his “coming and going person” to help shepherd the manuscript into print. “I didn’t expect all that.”
And so, “Champlain in Maine” is a gift in many ways. A number of people contributed to it and, as a way of giving back to the community, Turner is donating all the proceeds from its sale to the Caribou Public Library.
Like Glenna, Phil produced most of his historical fiction after retirement. They both provide inspiration for those of us who hope to be writing into our 90s.
“If you can’t find a way to enjoy every day, you’re licked,” said Glenna. “A day is all we have to work with. We might as well appreciate it.”
Kathryn Olmstead is a former University of Maine associate dean and associate professor of journalism living in Aroostook County, where she publishes the quarterly magazine Echoes. Her column appears in this space every other Friday. She can be reached at kathryn.olmstead@umit.maine.edu or P.O. Box 626, Caribou, ME 04736.