Speaking & Tours
Book me for your next history-themed event. I speak on traveling tours or at inside events. My program is full of interesting slides from throughout Maine.
Books are available at all engagements. History and construction are woven with appealing passages. Owner accounts, poems and historical diary entries are often recited directly from the book.
My speaking reflects Maine's farming practices as well as early barn-building. Topics include barn styles and where they are found; how Maine farming changed with such things as the Erie Canal, railroads and regulations.
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BIO
I study barns. How I got here is pretty interesting. Early on, I was a carpenter / woodworker. In my mid-30s I went back to school. I wanted to be a "shop teacher." The problem soon appeared. I was drowning in mathematics and I hadn't even hit trigonometry yet. Thankfully I was excelling in my English and writing. I made a switch.
What would I do with writing? The school paper, then a 7-year stint as a freelancer with the Portland Press Herald commenced. Local weeklies became internships. At one point I was writing for 3 papers a week and attending college full time. That's when the barns came along. In 2007, I started a weekly column about local barns. It was a hit; it ran for 20 weeks straight. I joined the Timber Framers Guild. Soon I started speaking, and in 2012, I ultimately published my experiences in a book. I continue to get much from barns and I find that people really love them. It's easy to see why. Maine is fantastic "Barn Country." "Barn People" are pretty neat too.
Report Services
Custom report services are now available for barn owners. Perhaps you own a property with a barn but know little about its history? It wasn't passed down through your family. Reports come with detailed photos explaining the date-range and use of the structure and its features, something I like to call its "barnology." A barn, especially a dairy barn, may have gone through several transformative periods in its colorful life.
Maybe you are looking for restoration advice and resources. Reports can be tailored to any aspect of the building.
Depending on location, research & report services begin at $300 and include a signed copy of the book. The work will be used as a reference in your report, further explaining terms and concepts.
