Letter from the Editor-August

by Rebecca Falzano

Collaboration is a gift.

The process, the finished product, and everything in between.

The story behind this magazine—each and every issue—is one of incredible collaboration. It is the culmination of efforts of dozens of people who come together to create something special. These people are not just writers, photographers, copy editors, and stylists, they are gardeners, surfers, teachers, and volunteers. They are people who love Maine and love to share that passion with you. This is a group of people who were born here and who chose to come here. People who see the fiercely independent creative spirit all around us and have made the decision to devote their energy to uncovering it. Each one brings a unique perspective on living in Maine that is presented to you on these pages. We call them our contributors, but they are our partners, collaborators, inspiration, colleagues, and friends.

Take Field Trip columnist Veronique McAree, for example. She visited Maine more than a decade ago on a press trip to L.L.Bean and has been smitten ever since. “It’s not the lobster,” she says, “or the more than 2,000 lakes, or Portland’s amazing restaurants. It’s the creative community and the lovely designers who welcome me into their studios each month.”

The Canvas writer Britta Konau came to Maine from Washington, D.C., to take on the post of curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. She loved the arts community here so much that, after leaving CMCA, she decided to stay and contribute to the local arts scene by writing for several local publications.

Photographer Nicole Wolf (who shot this month’s cover) has been serving in earthquake-ravaged Haiti—in between running her high-end commercial photography business and raising money to build homes for three Haitian men—since May 2010. Her organization, Up from Under (upfromunder.org), breaks the barrier between those in need and those who desire to serve. “So many times as photographers we never participate outside of the image, we never engage the life we are observing,” she says. “My work in Haiti has shifted my vision to a place where the importance of serving someone else far exceeds the necessity of ‘taking’ their photograph.”

Writer Debra Spark has a long list of publications on her resume, and yet she somehow finds the time to be a professor of creative writing at Colby College. She is working on her new novel, set in Maine, London, and Paris and due out in 2012.

In his spare time, you can find photographer Trent Bell surfing Maine’s waves and getting ready for the newest addition to his family (he and his wife have a second baby on the way). “I have to be on the coast,” he says, “and this is one of the most scenic coasts in the world.”

Aside from shooting incredible portraits for MH+D, photographer Irvin Serrano is working on expanding into video production, in addition to raising his twins.

When he’s not editing or golfing (see the August issue of Maine magazine), copy editor Stephen Abbott works for a variety of nonprofits, including the Portland-based Great Schools Partnership; Engine, an arts organization in Biddeford; and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Photographer Scott Dorrance, who shot this month’s pool story, plans to hike all 281 miles of Maine’s stretch of the Appalachian Trail with his son. (They have traversed 4.7 miles so far.)

These are just a few of the amazing people whose perspectives on Maine infuse these pages. They say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are so very grateful for each of these “parts.”