And One to Grow On

Another in John Gould’s Maine series, And One to Grow On: Recollections of a Maine Boyhood, originally published in 1948, is a wonderful collection of anecdotes from the author’s very own boyhood in his hometown—where the mailman was a spiritualist, the harbor master rated a Navy celebration, a circus went bankrupt, and practical jokers were well loved. The maybasketing, the church suppers, the picnics, fishing, are all vividly remembered…

There is the story of Sophie whose death proved that rouge did not cover a birthmark…

The town drunk who was a successful farmer as well as husband and father…

The doctor who was a permanent guest at all school graduations since he had delivered all the children…

And there is the tale of Gould’s own dairy chores that included a cow who would not let down and thereby caused a problem with his schooling.

On and on these homely, funny stories of a childhood go, conveying in colorful detail just how much fun author John Gould had, growing up, living, and writing in Maine.