A retired College of the Atlantic professor died over the weekend after having a medical emergency at a popular swimming hole in Acadia National Park.
Nancy Evelyn Andrews, a distinguished artist and tenured professor, was found unresponsive in Echo Lake near the Ikes Point boat launch on July 11, according to the Bar Harbor Story, which was first to report her death.
The National Park Service is the lead investigating agency on the death because it owns the Ikes Point boat landing and much of the land surrounding the lake. Officials with the park service, which no longer has a designated spokesperson for Acadia, did not respond Monday to an email sent to a general media inquiry address.
Officials with the park service, which no longer has a designated spokesperson for Acadia, said a 61-year-old woman died after experiencing a medical emergency while exiting the water. The park does not release the identities of people who have died in the park until at least 72 hours after their next of kin has been notified, according to a statement emailed from a general park communications media account.
Chris Wiebusch, a retired law enforcement park ranger and search and rescue volunteer who worked in Acadia for more than 30 years, said the incident was initially reported as a drowning, though officials later determined Andrews had suffered a medical emergency.
Andrews had a prolific career creating films, drawings, installations and written stories shared internationally. The Museum of Modern Art collected six of her experimental films, according to her website.
“Nancy Andrews spent a quarter century at COA encouraging students to imagine things way beyond the confines of what they thought were imaginable; she served as their guide so they might produce creative work that let us all experience pieces of those imagined worlds,” former COA president Darron Collins told the BDN in a written statement Monday afternoon. “Nancy’s own artistry certainly changed the way I understand trauma, love and how we treat things we don’t understand. She was an amazing woman who shaped the college, the Island, and the workings of time-based art … so many people will miss her dearly.”
Collins, who also serves on the Acadia Advisory Commission, declined further comment. The 16-member commission, who historically has held public meetings three times each year, recently missed its second meeting in a row and its third meeting in less than a year and a half.
“Emerita professor Nancy Andrews’ innovative teaching and celebrated artistic work were central to the development of College of the Atlantic’s film and media arts program during her quarter-century career at the college,” COA spokesperson Rob Levin said. “We are deeply saddened by the news of her passing, and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones. Her imagination, humor, and creative rigor will remain a lasting part of COA’s artistic life.”
Andrews’ death comes after national park officials across the country were instructed not to confirm deaths or provide details about severe injuries on park property, according to a U.S. Department of the Interior internal memo obtained by the Washington Post in late June.
Seemingly in line with new federal policies, Acadia is less responsive to public inquiries. In addition to not having a dedicated spokesperson, most inquiries sent to its general communications email go unanswered.
Karen Reddersen, town manager of Southwest Harbor, which lies south of Echo Lake on MDI, confirmed the death occurred on park property but had no additional details. Alex Kimball, town manager of Mount Desert, which sits north of Echo Lake, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the BDN.
Andrews was the second water-related death on MDI this month.
On July 2, local tour guide Rachel Crisp, 36, died in what was described in the North Carolina native’s obituary as a “swimming accident” on Somes Pond in the Mount Desert village of Somesville, according to Bar Harbor Story.
Dave Kerns, Mount Desert’s police chief, did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Crisp from the BDN. Mark Latti, spokesperson for Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the warden service was not the lead agency on either Crisp or Andrews’ deaths and declined to further comment.
In a tribute by Captain Kaitlyn Mullen of Acadian Boat Tours, where Crisp was employed, the naturalist was praised for her joy, humor and “magical storytelling.”
“We only had the gift of calling Rachel Crisp crew for a short time,” Mullen said in a July 5 Facebook post. “But in that short time, she took on so many more roles than just crew: house mom, old man whisperer, professional narration trainer, the person who picks up the tasks that need to be done — regardless of the complete and utter lack of glamour associated with them — the person you can always call in when anyone else is sick… and most importantly, an instant friend who felt like she had always been a part of our boat family.”
Another woman died while swimming last weekend, but off MDI in the Hancock County town of Otis.
On Sunday, Deborah Wedge, 67, a Tremont resident, died at Beech Hill Pond in Otis — north of Ellsworth — after she likely had an unknown “medical event” in the water. Bystanders pulled her out of the pond and performed CPR, but she died at the scene. Her death was disclosed just after midnight Monday by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.