This Week's Haul, Jan. 29: Pro Libris in Bangor is a one of one
And: Skijor is a wild sport!
Good morning from eastern Maine, where this week, on Tuesday morning, I went outside to measure the accumulated snow on our picnic table in the backyard, and it amounted to a whopping 17 inches. Ay yi yi. Our short-statured dog briefly disappeared in it whilst we were playing fetch. We paid a neighborhood teen to shovel our driveway. Our next door neighbor brought us fresh baked cinnamon bread. We had soup. Good snow day.
There is a nationwide shutdown tomorrow to stop ICE, asking people and businesses to not work, go to school or shop all day on January 30. If you are able, you should participate. If you are not able, that’s OK too. Whatever you can do to contribute is welcome.
Susan Collins says “enhanced” ICE operations have stopped in Maine. I struggle to believe her. I struggle to believe anything she says, quite frankly. If these violent thugs have left, however, great. Goodbye. Go away forever. I hope you live with regret and remorse and quietly hate yourself for the rest of your days, though I seriously doubt you have the emotional capacity for that kind of reflection.
Welp, after months of protest, the University of Maine System went and did what I kind of expected them to do: ignore the wishes of faculty, staff, students and alumni and stick with the plan to demolish a beloved, historic building and replace it with a parking lot. Very on brand for them these days.
As someone who had a front row seat to breaking news in Maine for many, many years, the utter debacle of how information was released to the media about the tragic plane crash at Bangor International Airport on Sunday night was wild to me.
Two Mainers will compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan: Skier Sam Morse of Carabassett Valley, and bobsledder Frank Del Duca of Bethel. More western Maine Winter Olympics dominance!
RIP, Virginia Oliver, the Lobster Lady. Lobster fishing past age 100. That’s what we do here. You can donate to a GoFundMe established in her honor to help her family with funeral expenses.
One of the most significant natural disasters to hit Bangor in the past century occurred 50 years ago this week, as the Flood of ‘76 sent the Kenduskeag Stream and the Penobscot River overflowing throughout downtown Bangor and the Brewer waterfront, submerging cars and buildings and sweeping away some unlucky locals in the rapidly rising icy water. Though thankfully no one was killed, the “Groundhog Day Storm” caused millions of dollars of damage to the Queen City and other communities across the state. Winds reached 115 miles per hour along the Down East coast and caused 14-foot waves, while in Searsport, a Japanese freighter that was anchored offshore dragged its anchor and washed aground.
Music & Dance
Jan. 30: The Jam Company, jam band, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing Company, Ellsworth
Jan. 30: Erena Terakubo Quartet, jazz ensemble, 7 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, Orono
Jan. 31: Phil Hummer & the White Falcons, Osmia and Matthews Hawkins, 6 p.m., American Legion Hall, Belfast
Jan. 31: SCOBY, prog rock band, 7 p.m., Hey Sailor, Searsport
Jan. 31: Broadwing, Lolitslea, Faded 2 Gray, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Feb. 1: Bangor Symphony Orchestra Master Works concert, featuring soloist Anthony Trionfo, 3 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 1: Bagaduce Music presents Frigg, Finnish folk ensemble, 4 p.m., Emlen Hall, The Bay School, Blue Hill
Theatre & Comedy
Jan. 29-Feb. 22: Penobscot Theatre Company presents John Cariani’s “Almost, Maine,” Wednesdays-Sundays, Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Jan. 30: Queen City Improv, improv comedy night, 7 p.m., Stowaways Tavern, Bucksport
Jan. 30: Comedy night with Johnny Ater and Ian Stuart, 8 p.m., Hollywood Casino, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Jan. 29: Camden Conference presents “The Land of Israel: Jewish, Christian, & Muslim Perspectives” with lecturer Derek Michaud, 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Jan. 30: Learn How to DJ workshop with DJ Ice Ghost, 6 p.m., Dream In Gold, 98 Central St, Bangor
Jan. 30: Reading from “Echoes in the Fog,” Maine writing anthology, 6:30 p.m., Bookspace, Bangor
Jan. 31: Wild bird themed needle felting workshop, 10 a.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
Jan. 31: “The Buzz on Native Plants,” documentary screening, 1 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport
Jan. 31: Poetry reading with Josh Krugman and Pat Smith, 2 p.m., Friend Memorial Public Library, Brooklin
Feb. 1: Bangor Humanities Day, arts, culture and history activities in locations throughout downtown, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., visit umaine.edu/mhc for full schedule
Feb. 3-4: Two workshops on using AI responsibly; “Exploring AI Tools at Fogler Library,” 4 p.m., Feb. 3, and “Using AI Ethically,” 4 p.m. Feb. 4, Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono; register here
Feb. 3: Screening of Maine-made documentary “Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong,” 6:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Feb. 4: “Filling the Gaps: How religious organizations are meeting social service needs in Maine,” Maine Monitor panel discussion, 6 p.m., Bangor Public Library, Bangor
Feb. 4-5: Banff Mountain Film Festival, 6:30 p.m. both nights, Gracie Theatre, Husson University, Bangor
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Jan. 31: Skijor Bangor, annual skijoring event, 10 a.m., Bass Park, Bangor
(Skijor is a crazy thing! It’s really cool! Being pulled along a snowy course while hanging onto a rope attached to a horse [or dogs!] while you’re on skis or a snowboard? INSANE why would you do that?? But also: entertaining! Incredibly challenging! It’s fun to see horses be agile and pretty and in sync with their expert riders. It’s fun to see daring and talented ski/snowboard athletes. Winter sports are wild! There are other skijor events around the state as well, organized by Skijor Maine; check it out here.)
Pro Libris Bookshop has for decades quietly sold books out of an unassuming storefront with a colorful hand-painted sign (by the amazing Wally Warren) on 3rd Street in Bangor, offering a diverse array of paperback-only literature in its jam-packed shelves. Its owner, Eric Furry, died earlier this month, after opening the shop in 1980 and being its sole proprietor for 45 years. In his entertaining and touching obituary, Furry was noted as a hippie that liked NASCAR and breakfast at Judy’s, a fastidious businessman who was nice to everybody, and a lover of everything under the sun: music, baking, people, Mother Earth, and especially books. His wife, Vera, hopes to sell the shop as a whole to the right person.
Who, though, might that right person be? The beautiful specificity of Furry and Pro Libris is part of its great charm. Few - perhaps no one - could open a low-key bookstore on a side street in Bangor, Maine these days. Few could eschew both a website and social media (the Pro Libris Facebook page has posted exactly four times in the past six years). Few would have such wide-ranging and utterly unpretentious taste. No one would have the deep connections to the landscape and legacy of countercultural rural Maine. Furry, and his shop, are a one of one. It could only exist in Bangor. I hope the right person comes along, of course, but it will never, ever be the same.
So sorry to hear about Eric Furry. What a great guy, and what a great bookstore.