Maine's Famous People

Robert B. Hall (1858-1907)

Robert B. Hall was born into a musical family on June 30, 1858 in Bowdoinham, Maine. His father was his first cornet instructor and he became an outstanding cornetist with tremendous playing range. Over his lifetime he was associated with many Maine bands and published more than 62 marches. In 1981, Governor Joseph Brennan proclaimed the last Saturday in June annually as R. B. Hall day.

http://www.mta75.org/curriculum/music/rbh/rbhall.html

Mount Katahdin, Autumn, No. 1

Edmund Hartley (1877-1943)

Born Edmund Hartley in 1877, Lewiston native Marsden Hartley is considered one of America's most accomplished modernist painters. Hartley is known for his dramatic use of color and form, and thick layering of paint. In his teens, Hartley earned scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art before heading to New York City where he studied at the National Academy of Design. Hartley's career was launched in 1909 when the famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz offered him a one-man exhibition at this 291 Gallery in New York City. Although Hartley moved to Cleveland, Ohio at age 13, in adulthood he returned often to Maine during the summer. In Maine, Hartley painted many famous works including, "Evening Storm", "Schoodic", and "Lobster Fisherman". In 1943 Hartley died at the age of 66 in Ellsworth, Maine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsden_Hartley

Stephen King (1947-Present)

Born in Portland, Maine and educated at the University of Maine at Orono, Stephen King has established himself as one the world's most famous horror writers of our time. King's first taste of success came in 1974, when Doubleday Books published Carrie which became an immediate success and was later made into a feature length film. Over 100 million copies of King's books are in print, several of which have been made into popular movies.

http://www.stephenking.com/

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Born in Rockland, Edna St. Vincent Millay became one of this nation's most renowned poets of the 20th Century. Millay's literary career began in earnest in 1912 at the age of 20 when she entered her poem "Renascence" into a national poetry contest and won. She went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book the Harp - Weaver. Millay's poetry was well known for its feminist themes and images of sexual freedom.

http://members.aol.com/MillayGirl/millay.htm

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

Born in Alna, Maine, Edwin Arlington Robinson is considered to be one of the most important poets of the first half of the twentieth century, ranking with the likes of T.S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, and William Carlos Williams. He spent his early years in Gardiner, Maine where by the age of twenty knew that “I was doomed, or elected, or sentenced for life, to the writing of poetry". Robinson came into the national spotlight when his book of poetry, Children of the Night came to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who became an ardent supporter of Robinson. He was awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, Collected Poems (1922), The Man Who Died Twice (1925) Tristam (1928). In all Robinson published twenty-eight books of poetry and several plays in his lifetime.

http://www.gpl.lib.me.us/ear.htm

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

During the time she lived in Maine, Harriet Beecher Stowe became one of the most important figures during the Civil War period by penning perhaps the most influential novel of its time. While living in Brunswick, Maine, Stowe was inspired to write Uncle Tom's Cabin, a story that was sympathetic towards the plight of slaves in the United States. Highly controversial, this novel stirred up emotions on both sides of the slavery issue and was often used as a symbol to rally the abolitionist movement.

http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/stowe1.htm

E.B. White (1899-1985)

E.B. White is revered as one of the world's greatest authors of children's stories and prose. After writing such classic tales as Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, White and his family moved from New York to a small farm in North Brooklin, Maine where he lived for 28 years.

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=10499

Andrew Wyeth (1917-Present)

One of this country's foremost modern artists, Andrew Wyeth has captured the imaginations of millions of people with his entrancing images of Maine's landscape and her people. Many of Wyeth's paintings are displayed at the Farnsworth Gallery in Rockland,

http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/wyeth/wyeth.html

Joan Benoit Samuelson (1958-Present)

Freeport native, Joan Benoit Samuelson made history at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles as she raced to the gold medal in the inaugural women's marathon event. She has also won prestigious events such as the Boston Marathon and the Chicago Marathon and set the second fastest time ever posted by a woman in a marathon. Joan is currently working to establish a nationally prominent road race in Maine

http://www.distancerunning.com/inductees/1998/benoit.html

Cindy Blodgett (1975-Present)

Born in Clinton, Maine, Cindy Blodgett has become one of the top women basketball players in the country. A standout at the University of Maine, Blodgett ranks fourth on the NCAA all - time Division I leading scorers list with 3,005 points and fifth on the career scoring average list (25.5 points per game). Blodgett twice led the nation in scoring and holds 20 school records at the University of Maine at Orono. Drafted by the WNBA Cleveland Rockers, Cindy played for the Sacramento Monarchs and currently plays for the Springfield Spirit in Connecticut.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-1-2000-337.asp