BAR HARBOR — It is a well-known fact that “Peyton Place,” the controversial, scandalous blockbuster was filmed in Camden, Maine and the surrounding towns in 1957. But few have heard the true story of how the film came to Camden and what happened next. Join author Mac Smith as he shares the true story behind the film as he talks about his book “Peyton Place Comes Home to Maine: The Making of the Iconic Film” during a virtual author talk on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. with the Jesup Memorial Library.
Smith has done the research and conducted the interviews and presents a fascinating account of events and key players. Beginning with the arrival of film crews, he traces the making of the movie, what happened after the crews left and the premiere of the film, which was held in Camden. Included are quotes from locals who were featured in the film.
Smith is the author of the book “Mainers on the Titanic” which featured stories of Maine passengers on the Titanic. Smith is a Navy veteran of the First Gulf War and former news reporter for the Bar Harbor Times. He is a graduate of the University of Maine at Orono. He now lives in Stockton Springs, in the village of Sandy Point, where he is restoring the family homestead.
Books are on sale for this virtual event courtesy of co-sponsor Sherman’s Books and can be purchased at any of their locations, on their website at shermans.com or by calling 207-288-3161.
Registration for this event is required to receive the Zoom link. To register fill out the form at jesuplibrary.org/event/smith or email kchagnon@jesuplibrary.org.
Join author and co-founder of Gross National Happiness USA, Ginny Sassaman, for a Zoom author talk about her book “Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just and Joyful World” on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. with the Jesup Memorial Library.
The book features a series of secular sermons on a wide range of happiness skills and teaches and encourages the transformation needed to live a full and happy life while also creating conditions for maximum well-being for the whole planet. Topics touched on in the book range from beauty to the need for an alternative economic framework, from kindness to social comparison, from lifelong learning to happiness skills for activists. The sermons included give a much deeper understanding of changes each of us can make to be our best selves, and work together for a better world.
This book does not have all the answers — but it will provide readers with a lot of incredibly valuable and timely information, and may also help us frame the questions we need to be asking. Maria Sirois, author of “A Short Course in Happiness After Loss (and Other Dark, Difficult Times)” writes, “In clear and no uncertain terms Ginny Sassaman lays out for us the significant and uplifting reasons we all ought to be investing in happiness while building the internal life of goodness we all seek to find inside the temples of our living.” Laura Musikanski, executive director of Happiness Alliance and co-author of “The Happiness Policy Handbook” adds, “Move over Gretchen Rubin. Ginny Sassaman brings at once her unique perspective, some valuable lessons, and inspiration. Each sermon is a bite-size entry into positive psychology, the happiness movement and the lovely wonderful world of Ginny Sassaman. Whether you count yourself as religious, spiritual but not religious, or atheist, this book is a fun and worthy read.”
Sassaman is a co-founder, past president and advisory board member of Gross National Happiness USA, and the creator of the Happiness Paradigm. She has served as a lay preacher at Unitarian Universalist churches in Vermont, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and South Carolina. Originally from central Pennsylvania, Ginny and her husband spent many years living in Washington, D.C., before settling near Montpelier, Vermont. She has a master’s in mediation and a certificate in positive psychology and teaches secular meditation classes.
Copies of “Preaching Happiness” are available for purchase from co-sponsor Sherman’s Books and can be purchased at Sherman’s Bar Harbor, by calling 207-288-3161 or on shermans.com.
Registration is required to receive the Zoom link.To register fill out the form at jesuplibrary.org/events/sassaman or by emailing kchagnon@jesuplibrary.org.