Wet Pets and Other Watery Tales

The Book:

Author Bios

Alicia E. (Pepler) Albright was born Alicia Elaine Dale in Providence, R.I., on December 10, 1968. After her father died of cancer, her mother remarried, and the newly formed Pepler family moved to Realm Farm, in Liberty, Maine. There they raised goats, chickens, cows, horses and many cats and dogs. After graduating from Mt. View High School, Alicia earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication, with highest honors, from the University of Maine. She married David F. Albright, MCSE, in 1990 and is the mother of three: Alic, Dashiell, and LiLi. The Albright pets are Willow and Shilo, neutered Siamese cats, and Lila, a neutered part-Bernese Mountain Dog and shelter rescue. The antics of her animals continue to amaze and inspire her. She recently earned her master's degree in education and hopes to teach elementary school children.

Rosemary Anderson grew up in Scotland, completed college, then came to the United States to work as a governess. She met and married husband Andy, with whom she has shared thirty memorable years. They were living in Massachusetts in the '70s, when they began to build their trimaran. While doing so, they built and spent a year in a small cabin in the woods -- cramped quarters, no electricity or running water, but, as she says, "good preparation for life on board." They sailed to Florida and lived aboard with Tigger and Pooh, eventually selling the boat and buying land on which they built a house in Tampa. They returned to Massachusetts in 1985 and built the house in which they lived at the time this story was contributed (1999). In 2002 they moved back to Rosemary's roots in Scotland but returned to the United States in 2003 and promptly bought a sailboat, about which Rosemary comments: "Here we go again!"

The Andersons have three children. Shana has followed in her
parents' footsteps, has her own business, and is a builder of classic wooden boats in Port Townsend, Washington. David has an interest in film and has had parts as an extra in several movies in Hollywood, California. Victoria, a high school student, is interested in photography and marine biology. Cats have always been an important part of their family but they are "in-between" pets as this goes to press.

Kathy Bartlett is a Rockland native, recently retired from working part-time in the escort department at Penobscot Bay Medical Center. She and her husband are owned and loved by two cats, Benny and Bubbles, who are both nearing voting age. Kathy enjoys gardening, reading, writing, sewing, and crafts. She knits, too, but much to her chagrin, has been known to get a full year out of a ball of yarn.

Nancy Benner-Gifford lives in Owls Head, on the ocean. She was "born an artist," and that is still her work. She grew up in Rockland and moved to Portland in the late '70s, where she attended Portland School of Art. She stayed in Portland for almost twenty years, working in all phases of graphic arts, from print shops to ad agencies. She returned to Owls Head and is currently back in college full time to become an art teacher. At the time this story was written, Nancy Benner was a single mom with a twelve-year-old daughter. As we go to press, her daughter Rachel is fifteen years old, and Nancy is remarried -- her husband Bill, a Rockland schoolteacher. "Of course, Jack Dog lives with us too," she says, "and, also, a rescued Shepherd named Katy.

A former editor of Oceans and Sea magazines, Joseph E. Brown freelances -- and sails a 1955 Hinckley 36 yawl -- from Rockport, Maine. New cat Whisper "entertains royally but wouldn't think of going near a boat."

Virginia Biddle was born in Milton, Massachusetts, and, she says, "grew up largely on the back of a horse when not surviving on-going attempts at formal education." Something of a maverick, she went through an abortive stint in a degree nursing program, became a registered medical technologist, and spent two years in Nagasaki, Japan, as medical director of a research laboratory for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. Later, after entering medical school at the age of thirty-one, Dr. Biddle received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She opened her own practice in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod and enjoyed what she considers to be the last really good years in medicine before HMOs and other regulatory agencies "started drowning us all in meaningless, redundant paper work." With regret, she closed her practice and moved to Maine, where she has worked for a walk-in clinic and accepted some locum tenens assignments in various states. She gardens, hauls lobster pots, sails (with a captain's license), skis, "builds things" and is currently assisted by two cats and her cozy, affectionate Wolf-dog, Josie.

Evelyn M. Boyington was born and raised in New York but has lived in Maine most of her life. Following her graduation from college and throughout her married life she was a teacher of music, especially piano. She is a "puzzle buff" and has had many of her puzzles published by Penny Press magazine. She co-authored Down East Puzzles and Word Games and is the sole author of Bible Crosswords #12, published by Barbour, Inc. The mother of four children, she has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her love of pets continues, and she says it is hard to remember a time when her family was without them.

Mrs. Boyington passed away before this book reached print.

Robin Chapman was born and raised in Midcoast Maine. He attended local schools and graduated from Medomak Valley High School. In 1980 he joined the U.S. Navy for four years, seeing much of the Pacific Coast and many Asian countries. Returning to Maine in 1986, he lived and worked in the Portland area. In 1989 he trained in Texas to be a commercial diver and worked in that field for seven years. Abby and A.J. have a central role in his life, but Robin also enjoys boating, fishing, golf, skiing, and travel. He works as a correctional officer at the Maine State Prison in Warren and resides in Thomaston with his dogs.

Stephanie Clapp and her husband John adopted Fuzzy after having sold the Granite Inn in Rockland and moved onto their 85-foot historic sailboat, the Windermere, a Baltic Trader they rebuilt in Rockland harbor. They later sold the boat, moved to Savannah, Georgia, where they found their second cat, Shrimpy -- an abandoned kitten with a taste for shrimp. A subsequent move back to Maine brought them full-circle. They bought the Inn again, redecorated, and were back in business until the country called. The Inn was sold in 1997. The Clapps moved to a farm in Lincolnville and opened the Cellardoor Winery. When they decided to adopt a dog, off to the Camden-Rockport Shelter they went, and there he was -- their new best friend -- whose name became "Angus." With two rooms for farm-stay, Angus often gets to take walks with guests along the trails of Camden Hills State Park. "He's the greatest dog," Stephanie said, "but we love all of our pets, and now Fuzzy is old but, as of this writing, he is still the king of the hill."

Lynda Clancy is a reporter and writer who lives in Rockport at the mercy of her menagerie, which includes two big dogs, a rabbit, an ancient cat, and, of course, her husband Jim Dill and sons Dominic
and Lucas.

Dr. Richard Crowell received his bachelor's degree in biology from Fairfield University, a master's degree in biology from Boston College, and his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Crowell is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), and the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). He is married and has four children.
At the time this story was written he also had two dogs (Rudi and Gillie) and two rabbits (Cottontail and Nippers).

At the time of this happening in Friendship, Roger Duncan was a teacher and Assistant Headmaster at Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts. During the summers he and his wife sailed parties in their Friendship sloop Eastward from Newagen, Maine. They took time off this particular week to race with other Friendship sloops in the annual Homecoming Regatta in Friendship. Since then, he has spent a year as Headmaster, retired from teaching, and moved year-round to East Boothbay, Maine. He and his wife have given up the sloop and now sail a small schooner, Dorothy Elizabeth, and write articles and an occasional book. For more than twenty years Roger Duncan has been Yearbook Editor for the Friendship Sloop Society.

Alice Boyington Farnham is the daughter of Evelyn M. Boyington (author of From Fear to Love in this volume). She was born and raised in Maine and attended college at Northeast Bible Institute in Green Lane, Pennsylvania. She married a man from Vermont, and the couple lived there for two years before returning to Maine in 1976. She is the mother of two grown children and has worked as a seamstress and tailor for more than thirty years. Animals have always been a big part of her life, from cats and dogs to horses, cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and pigs. Now living in Rockland with her husband, 10 cats, and 11 chickens, she is at work on a book of short stories about her cats.

Gayle Portnow Halperin lives in Camden, Maine, during summers and winters in New York City. A sportswear designer-turned-photographer, she took black-and-white photos of people for fifteen years, "concerned with revelation and obsessed with nuance and detail." Now she looks for dogs who delight her, who show their emotions, who draw her to them. Her first dog, an intuitive, expressive Springer Spaniel named Maxwell, prompted her to keep her camera close and ready. Like people, dogs can think and feel, she says, and her candid portraits display a range of anthropomorphic expressions. Walking in Westhampton Beach, her home on off-season weekends, she discovered several of her dog stars. But she photographs mostly on the streets of New York City, fearless -- she's been barked at only once -- and hopeful as she greets the chosen few with her camera. They always surprise her.

Esther Maria Hardy, born to Swedish immigrant parents in 1914, grew up in the Boston area and moved to Walpole, Massachusetts, after her marriage to Edward Hardy. During World War II, Esther was a Red Cross volunteer. She then went to nursing school, became an L.P.N., and worked in various hospitals. In 1975, the Hardys retired to Maine. Edward died in 1997, but Esther remains in their Maine home, where she lives with youngest daughter Lily, and Lily's cat Ginger. Besides one other daughter and two sons, Esther has seventeen grandchildren, thirty-six great grandchildren, and two great, great grandchildren. She enjoys flower gardening, painting, sketching, sewing, cooking, reading, knitting, and needlework.

Loron Holdon is a native of Washington, having attended high school in Richland and obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas. During his years in the electrical industry, he and his family were able to live in many different locations throughout the United States. He is now building a new retirement home in Foley, Alabama.

Loron describes his family as being "avid water people who enjoy all kinds of water sports, especially our charter experiences in the BVI," one of which resulted in the meeting with the black island dog. His account of that meeting in Sail magazine won the prize of a seven-day charter on a 50-foot sail boat for him and his family, including his wife, a son and daughter-in-law, a daughter and son-in-law, and, for his first real sailing adventure, a five-year-old grandson. A second trip to the same location brought no further news of the resourceful canine visitor to their vessel.

Townsend Hornor wrote Meg's story in late 1998, one of the very first contributed to this volume. He lives on Cape Cod in a waterfront house his father bought in 1927. As of 2003 he and his wife had two dogs: Molly, a rescued Cocker Spaniel, and Sheba, a Golden Retriever/Shepherd mix. Following a career in investment banking, "Townie" (as he is often called) opened a small-boat service business in Osterville. He is currently Chairman of the National Marine Life Center, which is working to build a rehabilitation facility along the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay for stranded marine mammals. He is, or has been, active in a number of other charitable institutions on and around the Cape.

Margaret (Meg) Sharp Hunter was born in Croydon, England. Her husband Charles is from Glasgow, Scotland. Her path to Midcoast Maine was a circuitous one that, through many adventures, took her to Melbourne, Australia, to Montreal, Canada, to Camden for fifteen years, then on to California where she met and married Charlie. After nine years on the West Coast and following the Northridge earthquake in 1993, Meg persuaded her husband to return with her to Maine "where the earth doesn't shift so much." They moved with their beloved pets in 1994 and found the perfect spot to settle -- on 42 acres in Northport, in an old house built in 1797 -- the Carver Homestead -- which used to be a stagecoach stop, then a boarding house for travelers from the islands who worked on the mainland.

Both Meg and her husband have had diverse work experience, but at the time of this writing she is Executive Assistant to the Director of Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care in Rockland. He is a broker at Jaret & Cohn Real Estate, Belfast office. They also have diverse interests -- she is a vintage car enthusiast and auto racing fan -- he, an actor with the Belfast Maskers (civic theater) and an avid soccer fan.

Meg says that "with the sea almost at our front door and moose, owls, ferrets, deer, eagles, even coyotes, almost in our back yard, we are very content here in Midcoast Maine."

When Maggie Johnston wrote this story, she was a second grade teacher at Pemetic School in Southwest Harbor, Maine. She retired in June of 2002, her first opportunity, she says, to indulge her creative interests in writing and painting. During the summer months she and her husband Bill, both U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captains, own and operate Great Harbor Charters, sailing from Northeast Harbor, Maine. They ply the waters off Mount Desert Island in the company of their feline crew: first, Port and Starboard, who assumed Pirate's responsibilities; then Port and Miss Matey, who offers comfort following the unexpected loss of Starboard to a heart condition on the day of Maggie's retirement in 2002. Maggie's hope, following her retirement from teaching young children, is to write a children's book about Pirate's adventures and those of Port, Starboard, Miss Matey, and others who may follow.

Dorrie Long and her husband have sailed with Chester from Maine to the Caribbean. While cruising the Chesapeake Bay, Dorrie was horrified to have Chester identified as a Weimaraner. Recently, they have been joined by Samantha, a Schipperke, who frequently becomes seasick and, according to Dorrie's husband, hates everyone but her mistress.

Jennifer Lothrop (who prefers to be called "Jen") was twelve years old when this was written. She lives in Rockland, Maine, and hopes one day to become an eye doctor. Her hobbies include swimming, playing with her black Lab George and being with friends. Her favorite song is "Graduation" by Vitamin C, and her favorite color is green. Jennifer has an older brother Michael. In the summer of 2001, Jennifer was one of eight Rockland-area teens honored for volunteer work through Youthlinks, a nonprofit community service group.

Hannah Merker -- a writer, book reviewer, professor of English literature and creative writing, and the executive editor of Academic Library Book Review during its 12-year life -- lived aboard the Good Ship Bette Anne on the shores of Long Island Sound for over 20 years, always with a hearing guide dog and a constantly changing population of cats. She was a reference librarian for over 30 years with various Long Island, New York, libraries and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. She also established and served as the director of a division of the Library of Congress' program for the visually and physically handicapped of Suffolk County, New York. Hannah now lives in Bristol, Maine, with water-dog/hearing guide dog Smudge, four of her boatyard cats (who still look for puddles every day -- reminders of their life at sea), and a new young tomcat, three-legged Hopper. She is currently working on two books: Waterborn and Harvey's Brain.

Alison Metcalfe is a native of Scotland and graduated with an M.A. (Honors) from Edinburgh University. With her American husband, John, she lived on a boat for five years, spending time in the south of England, Spain, Portugal, Madeira, and the Canary and Cape Verde Islands before crossing the Atlantic under sail in 1972. After moving ashore, she lived two years on Cape Cod before coming to Maine, where the family settled in Union. Since 1986 Alison has worked as the office manager at Rockland Congregational Church. She is active in the Union Historical Society, the Vose Library, and People's United Methodist Church in Union. Her interests are reading, history, spending time with family, canoeing, and travel. The Metcalfes now live in Appleton, Maine, and have three grown children and two grandchildren. They still keep (or are kept by) pet cats.

Fundy's parents are Lolly and Jim Mitchell who arrived in Camden by boat in 1989. In a previous life they founded Sakonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, Rhode Island, and operated it for thirteen years. In addition to tending 45 acres of vines and producing 20,000 gallons of delicious wine on an annual basis, they raised over 100 Golden Retriever pups -- "as a cash crop," they say.

Prior to those "vintage years" Jim enjoyed several careers in industry -- initially as an engineer with Union Carbide Company, then as USAID Advisor to the Korean Government, and finally as an International Consultant with Arthur D. Little, where he worked primarily on energy projects in the Middle East. A terrorist attack on his aircraft in Rome in 1973 convinced the Mitchells to find a safer lifestyle!

Meanwhile Lolly spent eighteen years working as a publicist for architects, including Walter Gropius, at The Architects Collaborative in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as John Carl Warnecke in San Francisco, California, and Washington, D.C., where she handled the press relations for the John F. Kennedy Grave in Arlington, Virginia.

Today, Lolly and Jim say they are "very happy living in an old Maine farmhouse overlooking beautiful Penobscot Bay, taking care of one boat, one garden, one dog and one cat."

This was written by me, Capt. Rick Miles, in the year 2000, on a windy, snowy day here on Pleasant Mountain in West Rockport, Maine. Pilot is curled up on her rug in front of the wood stove,
dreaming, no doubt, about the next warm season on the water.

After owning and operating the pilot schooner Timberwind for twelve years, Capt. Rick and his wife Capt. Karen (author of the Remarkable Maggie story next in this volume) now own and operate the Expedition Vessel Wanderbird. They do nature-themed cruises along the coasts of Maine, Nova Scotia, and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Website www.wanderbirdcruises.com provides additional information about them and their new adventure.

Capt. Karen Miles, wife of Capt. Rick Miles (author of the preceding Pilot story), is a licensed ship captain with many artistic talents. She submitted no biographical information, preferring to focus on Maggie's story. But we are happy to report that black Labs Pilot and Maggie both live aboard the Miles' new Expedition Vessel Wanderbird -- along with a parrot and a finch. Further information is available on their Website: www.wanderbirdcruises.com.

Mary Morrissey lives with her husband as well as the legendary Ace (Labrador Retriever) and her thirteen-year-old cat Gulliver, who used to like to travel but now prefers to lie in a sunny window to watch the birds fly by.

In her job as manager of an apartment complex, Mary has found it appalling to discover how many unwanted cats and kittens are dumped in the apartment community, expected to forage for food in the dumpsters, and huddle by the laundry room under the drier vents for warmth during bad weather. With the help of Have-a-Heart traps, a nearby shelter, and some kind people, many of these cats have been saved. With local ads about spaying and neutering assistance, Mary hopes this practice of dumping unwanted pets can be ended.

During their years together Mary and her husband have taken in many cats and kittens and have provided foster care for others. They offer no fewer than 30 original and inspired names they have created for them. At the time of this writing, there are probably even more.

Deborah Norwood was born in Rockland in the city's Knox Hospital, which now functions as the Knox Center for Long Term Care. She is an L.P.N. there. She lives by the ocean and enjoys a daily walk with her dog Chloe. As a young child, it was she who named the dog in the story "Bambi." Although Bambi was her dog, Deborah's dad and the spaniel shared wonderful companionship -- "truly a remarkable bond as strong and deep as the sea, itself."

JoAnne E. Pillsbury, or "Jae," as she prefers to be called, grew up in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and worked for a time as a cancer researcher at Massa-chusetts General Hospital. After her marriage she continued her research while her naval officer husband served in Vietnam. When he returned, she became a stay-at-home mother to their two children until they were both in school. She then taught secondary school math while her husband worked in the family business in Massachusetts. During this time, the Pillsburys summered in Maine and, upon retirement, built a home in South Thomaston. "Duff and I are alone now since Peter died, but we are very fortunate to live in such a special place."

Sarah Rheault was born in England but grew up in central Africa in what is now Zambia. Later, while living in Ghana and Nigeria, she and her younger sister were sent to boarding school and college in England. Sarah's training in hotel management led her to Australia, where she managed a ski lodge, and to the Solomon Islands, where she met her husband, André.

Pets have always been important in Sarah's life, and she recalls the antics of one of the British Bulldogs in the family when they lived in Zambia. Her name was "Sally," and she loved both cats and babies. She would swirl the family cat around in the air by its tail until the cat had had enough and would dig its claws into the dog's nose to ensure a quick release. Also, whenever Sally saw any of the local nannies pushing a baby by in a pram, she would rush out, grin at the baby, and, in the process, manage to scare the nanny up a tree, so to speak.

After she was married, Sarah recalls with special delight the weekends in the British Solomon Islands when she and André would go with their dogs Meta and Moffatt to a nearby river. Donning masks, they would float down to the sea, with the dogs swimming and frolicking beside them -- a wonderful way to stay cool so close to the equator.

During their years together Sarah and André raised one daughter and one son. They were entrepreneurs in various types of businesses linked to the sea, including ocean-related commerce in Guadalcanal and boat building in Rockport. Following their move to Midcoast Maine they were both active in community affairs and served on diverse boards of directors according to their respective talents and interests. Sarah continues in several such capacities as of this writing. And, recently, she adopted a Great Dane mix named Kennebec.

Christa Richardson's dedication to all creatures began at an early age. It started when a tiny featherless bird was bumped out of its nest when she was just four years old. Many tears followed. The small creature didn't have the strength to survive, but a process had begun for that little girl. Soon squirrels, cats, dogs; any animal that needed a voice found one. The sentiment is even stronger today, and the animals have grown as well. Horses, along with other animals, have made themselves heard and found care and love in her hands.

A continuing battle with the serious illness CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) has reduced the author's capacity for horseback riding and physical work but not the love and interest she shows. Patiently watching the interactions and behavior of animals is crucial to understanding their past. Only then, she says, can they be given a future. And this is the author's promise to the animals she meets.

At the time of Spooky's adventure, Elizabeth Roberts and her husband owned and operated a lobster wharf in Friendship Harbor. They bought lobsters from the fishermen and sold them wholesale. She suspects that the enticing odors of fish and lobsters permeating the wooden surface of the wharf may have lured Spooky in that direction via the Eastward. Betty, as she is known locally and to members of the Friendship Sloop Society, has for many years functioned in different capacities as an officer of the Society. As of this writing she is serving as Historian.

Jane Scarpino is author of the popular children's book, Nellie the Lighthouse Dog. She lives in the one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old home in Port Clyde, Maine, which she and her late husband, Captain H.C. (Skip) Scarpino, bought when they retired in 1980. The Scarpinos were charter members of the area's Marshall Point (lighthouse) Restoration Committee, and Jane still opens and closes the lighthouse during the summer months. Mother of four, she is now grandmother to three girls, and, as of this writing, has three Boston Terriers "who are loving and entertaining and keep me warm in bed at night -- but really, there has never been another Lady Campbell." Inspired by the writing of Cam's story, she recently reconnected with the dog's original owner, the young commander of the USCG Cutter Campbell -- now retired Vice Admiral Austin Wagner.

Nina Scott is a professor of Spanish American literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her husband, Jim, is a retired high school and college chemistry teacher. Summers are spent in Friendship, Maine. The Scotts are avid sailors and Lab owners -- beginning with Schatzi, Nina's wedding gift to Jim. They say they "have loved each of them dearly and, for more than forty years, have taken one and all sailing."

Stanley Silva, known by many as "Stan," was born in Hayward, California, but was raised and educated in Pacific Grove, which is on the Monterey Peninsula. He loved to fish off the rocks along the Big Sur coastline and to hunt, fish, and camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He is committed to caring for this world in order to pass it on to our children.

Stan feels that he was "born an artist" -- a gift from God -- which allowed him to run his California sign shop for more than twenty years before moving to Union, where his two children were born. He still loves art, has lived "a relatively quiet life" and presently works at Wayfarer Marine in Camden. He recently restarted his sign business in Union but has added a variety of other artistic products, including metal sculpture and decorative ironwork for the home.

Corrine Slade has a background in music, the theater, and radio. She is also a lover of dogs and cared for Honeybear and her family over a seventeen-year period. Together they found the Maine Coast and reveled in its glory, relishing the gifts it gave to them. The dogs, which were so central in her life, are gone now and, she says, a large part of herself with them. As of this writing, a new friend was keeping her busy, a year-and-a-half-old Butterscotch Wheaten Terrier named Munson.

Sara Swift lives in the woods and has 50 acres for her animals to run through -- also in which to observe all kinds of wildlife, including deer and an occasional wandering black bear. Always an animal- and bird-lover, she has never been without pets, including squirrels, baby raccoons, possums, turtles, baby orphaned birds, goats, pet hens, a young calf, a donkey, ducks, and many cats and dogs. Twice widowed, she has three children, twelve grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. A "self-proclaimed artist," her favorite subjects for oil paintings are animals. As of this writing she has one dog, a thirteen-year-old German Shorthair Pointer.

As a teen, Harvey Versteeg hitchhiked 17,000 miles around the country -- from Michigan to Idaho via New Orleans and El Paso, then back to Michigan through Fairbanks, Alaska, and across Canada. He has parachuted 13 times (in Idaho and Montana) fighting fires as a U.S. Forestry Service smoke jumper and 11 times as a lieutenant with the 101st Airborne Division.

A 1956 graduate of Michigan State University, Harvey has taught school in Alaska, Michigan, and Maine, run history museums for fifteen years in three states, designed the logo for the submarine USS Augusta, and helped design buildings and military training simulators. He is retired from work in highway design at the Maine Department of Transportation.

Harvey met his wife in Michigan, where she did medical research after graduating from the University of Maine-Orono. When their family was established, she earned a degree in computer technology and business and now works as a senior program analyst for the State of Maine. Their son is a computer software trouble-shooter in Boston, and their daughter is a special education teacher, sign language interpreter, and church youth leader in Maine.

Harvey and his wife have deep roots in the Northeast. His family settled in Pennsylvania in 1680; hers has been in Maine since 1635. The Versteegs presently live in the old Augusta farmhouse where she grew up.

Harvey says two factors produced Shadow's name: a) he was black and b) he followed his master around like a shadow. He continued this behavior with the Versteegs' young daughter -- now grown "but still attracting pets and people wherever she goes."

Jean Weinstein was brought up on the shores of Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire, where her grandfather was a fishing guide. She and her husband have always loved the water. They had a Chris-Craft cruiser on the lake that always had their dogs aboard when they took it out. After vacationing in Maine for twenty years and loving it, they moved to the state in 1991. They still love Maine and the saltwater. Jean enjoys gardening, knitting, reading, and a new interest -- kayaking. She and her husband are semi-retired and thoroughly enjoying their current location. They bought another old Chris-Craft boat that they are restoring.