Tim’s unlikely journey from rural Readfield, Maine, to 91±ŹÁÏ to Los Angeles provides a backdrop for his latest gig: speaker for the 2026 undergraduate commencement ceremonies at his alma mater.

In this episode of “The Maine Question” podcast, host Ron Lisnet and Allen Adams, communications specialist and marketing coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, speak with Tim about his journey, the business of show business, memories of his days in Orono and much more.

Listen to the podcast on , , , , or “The Maine Question” website. 

What topics would you like to learn more about? What questions do you have for 91±ŹÁÏ experts? Email them to mainequestion@maine.edu.

These questions serve as the inspiration behind the latest book from Caroline Bicks, professor of English at the 91±ŹÁÏ, which delves into the creative methodology of 91±ŹÁÏ’s most famous literary alumnus, Stephen King, by leveraging unprecedented access to his archives.

“Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King” is an exploration of King’s process through an examination of five of his earliest works: “Carrie,” “Salem’s Lot,” “The Shining,” “Pet Sematary” and “Night Shift.” The public launch party for “Monsters in the Archives” will take place at 6:30 p.m. today  at Orono Brewing Company and will feature a conversation between Bicks and Justin Soderberg.

Through close readings of early drafts and comparisons to the final products, Bicks shows us how editorial choices and changes, whether large or small, can impact the flashlight-illuminated pages under the bedcovers that we ultimately experience.

But the book is also a story about Bicks’s own relationship with King’s work, from her discovery of the author’s work at a local library as a teenager through her 2017 appointment as the inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at 91±ŹÁÏ and the writing of this book. The result is a blend of the personal and professional that is simultaneously scholarly and eminently readable.

Four years into her time at 91±ŹÁÏ, she received an unexpected phone call from King.

“I was pretty flabbergasted; it turned out he just thought it was time we meet,” said Bicks. “I invited him to come talk to the students on campus about ‘Lisey’s Story’ and ‘On Writing,’ and he said yes, and it was just this magical first meeting I had with him. Seeing how passionate he was about talking to the students, how much he wanted to come back, and how much pleasure he took from it. It was really just a lovely way to meet him.”

Bicks was a longtime fan of King’s work, having read it since discovering and falling in love with it in the Castine Public Library when she was 12 years old (coming to the author’s work perhaps a touch early, as so many of us do). And while the old adage might say “never meet your heroes,” Bicks had the opposite experience. In fact, his generosity and kindness were a big reason why, when her year-long sabbatical approached, she reached out about this project.

“I felt comfortable enough to ask him and Tabitha,” she said. “I knew that they had just collected his manuscripts, a lot of them for the first time, and put them in a climate-controlled space attached to their home in Bangor, but that they hadn’t opened it up yet to people. I thought, ‘Well, this is opportunity knocking.’ An amazing opportunity if they say yes.”

It’s worth noting that Bicks wasn’t certain what this book was going to be when she made the ask. In essence, she had an idea to write about the books that scared her the most as a teenager and to try and understand how he crafted them.

“How did he craft these moments that are so iconic, that have stuck in the heads of so many people?,” Bicks said. “Fifty years after the fact, I can still talk to people my age who vividly remember Danny Glick at the window in ‘Salem’s Lot.’ And not just because of the movie. They actually remember the phrases that he wrote.

The question surrounding how he wrote these memorable moments was the seed that would eventually grow into “Monsters in the Archives.” Bicks narrowed her focus to the five aforementioned King works, the ones that hit her hardest and scared her the most when she first read them as a teenager.

“As a scholar, you’re taught not to bring your personal feelings into your work,” she said. “And I see the value in that to a point. But at the same time, I study gender and Shakespeare because I care about issues of gender. I really felt liberated to go in and say, ‘I’m just going to look at these because they’re the ones that scared me the most.’ I’m going to go revisit these stories. I’m going to reread them. I’m going to look at them with the eyes of a literature scholar.

“I’m bringing that view that I have that I didn’t have when I was a teenager,” she continued. “But I’m not going to lose my childhood reactions to it. I don’t want to lose what makes these such compelling stories, which is that they connect to our deepest fears. And everyone reacts differently. Everyone has a different story that scared them the most. At the same time, certain ones have staying power because they connect to issues we all face and fears we all have.

When Bicks finally ventured into the archives, the materials, particularly those that had yet to be examined, were “beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. 

What followed was months of research, with Bicks making the trip to visit the archives for at least a couple of eight-hour days per week, focusing on one of the five works at a time. 

Among the many joys Bicks derived from the process was the discovery of just how many different versions of these stories existed. Just as one example, there were three complete versions of “Pet Sematary,” all of which she worked her way through. Bicks — a self-professed slow reader — took something like three weeks to work her way through those three versions of “Pet Sematary.” After that? Right back into it.

“My days were filled with close reading, just going through these different versions,” she said. “First off, I just have to read and take notes and see what’s what. You can’t take photographs, so a lot of notes.”

One such change in “Pet Sematary” really captured Bicks’s imagination, as a slight alteration turned a good line into an iconic one, among the most memorable in the book.

“‘Dead is better,’ which is almost the hallmark of that book,” said Bicks. “It started as ‘Death is better.’ ‘Death is better’ is so different from ‘Dead is better.’  It still gives me chills. It is so much better and it’s one little change, right?

“And you can see why it became ‘Dead is better.’ It echoes, right? I was so pleased to find out that he still considers that the line that is the one that sticks with him the most from that novel,” she said.

Not every deep dive played out in the same way, however. For some, like “Night Shift,” the process involved following the collection’s various short stories through their publication histories. King was a working writer, selling stories to whatever outlets would take them, including a number of men’s magazines, which were once quite prolific publishers of short fiction. For others, like “Carrie,” Bicks would see a first draft that was significantly different from the book as it would ultimately be published.

But while some aspects of the editorial process varied somewhat from book to book, Bicks would discover that the writing process itself stayed largely the same. That included some surprising discoveries about the physical act of writing and the logistical and financial realities of such, including learning that King made a conscious effort to use as much of each sheet of paper as possible.

“He’s fitting it in as few pieces of paper as he can, because he had to,” she said. “I don’t think people today fully understand that. Paper costs money; he had to consider the materials needed in the creation of a book. The act itself had financial issues tied to it. You couldn’t just store it on a computer or in the cloud.”

That physical necessity also meant that there would occasionally be issues. Pages could get misplaced or ruined. There are a couple of incidents recounted in the book that feel genuinely harrowing, particularly to a fan of King’s work, tales of one book’s ending or another entire draft lost due to circumstance. The analog nature of it all is easy to forget until we’re confronted with the idea that a beloved horror classic might have simply disappeared because a briefcase got left in a cab or on a plane.

This book couldn’t have happened without the approval of the Kings. Bicks considers herself fortunate to have been given the opportunity — she’s the first scholar to be granted this kind of long-term ongoing access to the archive, something that simply would not have been possible without trust and transparency.

“I think he and Tabitha understood what I was trying to do,” she said. “I said to them, ‘I’m not interested in exposing your family secrets or psychoanalyzing deep, dark things.’ I’m coming at this as a literary scholar and as a fan. I really just wanted to look at these five works. I was very clear about my parameters. I wasn’t going in there to just paw through boxes.”

The end result of this lengthy literary odyssey is a very special book. It’s a work of thoughtful and compelling scholarship that is also reflective of one person’s personal journey with a beloved author. It is bibliographic and biographical all in one. “I’d like to think I did him proud,” said Bicks. “I know he likes the book. He read it and he said it’s ‘like a breath of fresh air,’ so that makes me feel really good. Like I got it right.”

Contact: Allen Adams, allen.adams@maine.edu

Ron Lisnet and Julie Arnold Lisnet’s now 43-year love affair with each other, and the 91±ŹÁÏ, did not begin with a thunderbolt from heaven back in 1982, when they met inside the Cyrus Pavilion Theatre. In fact, it started with a snide comment. 

“I was sitting there with a friend, being a snotty senior,” Julie said, remembering the day she first laid eyes on her future husband, “and Ron walks in, and I said, ‘Who is that geek?’” 

They were both there auditioning for a play. Ron was also in the middle of a fraternity beard-growing contest. It wasn’t going well. 

“Yeah, I was not winning,” Ron ’83 said. 

“There was a little patch here and a little patch there,” Julie ’82, ’85G, said. 

But Julie’s original assessment changed after Ron shaved and applied his stage makeup for the show, in which he played a fishnet shirt-wearing brothel owner. 

“I thought he had beautiful eyes,” Julie said, “I thought, ‘he’s actually a very handsome guy.’” 

A few months and dates later, they were inseparable. The two married July 14, 1984. 

“I think we’re the only Bear Pair to have met inside the Cyrus Pavilion Theatre,” Julie said. Bear Pairs are what 91±ŹÁÏ calls alumni couples, many of whom met as students on campus. 

And Ron and Julie are more than just a Bear Pair. Ron started working at the university 33 years ago, in 1993. Julie began teaching in the School for Performing Arts in 2002. Their daughter, Natalie Lisnet ’21, also works at 91±ŹÁÏ at the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. 

“Between us and our daughter, we have four [91±ŹÁÏ] degrees and a teaching certificate,” Julie said. “I don’t think we could get much more involved.” 

The whole family reunited inside the Cyrus Pavilion Theatre in January when Natalie directed both her parents in a production of “Pride and Prejudice” produced by the Ten Bucks Theatre Company, which Julie co-founded 25 years ago. 

Originally constructed in 1908, the Pavilion Theatre used to be a livestock judging arena. Julie said she remembers it housing sheep when she first lived on campus. At the end of the 1970s, it was converted into a theater. 

“When the theater department acquired it, I spent some time ripping out sheep mangers and shoveling lots of sheep poop,” Julie said. Now, both she and Ron are getting involved in the fundraising effort for another refurbishment. 

Growing up in Milbridge, Maine, Julie always knew she wanted to study theater. She applied to both the 91±ŹÁÏ and the University of Southern Maine and chose the one closest to home. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Orono in 1982, she continued on and earned a Master of Arts in Theatre in 1985. She now teaches in the same department. 

“I teach fundamentals of acting,” Julie said. “Occasionally, I teach a survey of dramatic literature, which means we read a lot of plays and talk about them. This year, for the first time, I’m also teaching in the Honors College. I’ve basically taken my acting class and turned it into a class focused on acting for Shakespeare.” 

Over the years, in addition to working at 91±ŹÁÏ, Julie has put her acting and directing talents to work at the Penobscot Theatre, Maine Theatre, Theatre of the Enchanted Forest, The Assembled Players, Marsh Island Stage, Maine Shakespeare Festival, Northern Lights Theatre, The Grand in Ellsworth and True North Theatre. 

In fall 2023 Julie directed “Crimes of the Heart” for Penobscot Theatre’s 50th season opener. In 2025, she directed “Matinicus: A Lighthouse Play” for the same company. The play told the story of real-life Mainer Abigail Burgess’ heroic exploits keeping her father’s lighthouse burning on a desolate rock, miles out to sea. 

In 1995, Julie appeared in a two-part network television miniseries based on a Stephen King short story called “The Langoliers.” She played the part of Aunt Vicki, who gets erased by a mysterious force. 

“Only her fillings and her glasses were found on the airplane when everybody that fell asleep disappeared, I think.” Julie said, struggling to remember the details. “My mother was very excited about it. I had 17 speaking lines, though that was cut down to just two in the final edit. My mother was very upset.” 

Ron was also in the film, sort of. “They had me put on this airline captain’s hat and drive around in the background,” he said. “We get a residual check for it every once in a while, for DVD rentals in Thailand, or something.” 

After growing up in Connecticut, Ron arrived at 91±ŹÁÏ to study forestry. He only auditioned for the play where he met Julie because a professor invited him. After graduating in 1983, Ron went to work for Bangor’s ABC television affiliate, WVII, where he eventually became sports director. After nine years, Ron brought his media production skills to the university. He’s now manager of visual media, overseeing all aspects of visual media for 91±ŹÁÏ, including photography and video production, as well as the university’s photo and video database and archives.

Ron has also been the play-by-play voice of 91±ŹÁÏ Men’s Basketball broadcasts for more than 30 years. He hosts the university’s “The Maine Question” podcasts, which he created in 2019, as well. The podcast explores how 91±ŹÁÏ students and researchers make sense of, and learn about, the world around them. Recent topics include “Can Zebrafish improve human health?” and “What is the future for manufacturing in Maine?” 

In 2025, the podcast won the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Circle of Excellence bronze level award, with judges saying, “With its punchy, distinctive title, this zero-budget podcast has impressive engagement metrics and demonstrates how thoughtful, location-based audio storytelling can translate complex academic work into accessible content that connects with local and national audiences alike.” 

In addition to all their work at 91±ŹÁÏ, Ron and Julie have always found time to perform in plays together. 

“We’ve probably played husband and wife 15 or 20 times,” Ron said. “I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been in shows together.” 

Though they can’t remember the exact number, each agrees it’s in the dozens. For the past quarter century, the pair has appeared in an outdoor Shakespeare show put on by the Ten Bucks Theatre Company at Indian Trail Park in Brewer every summer. In 2010 Ten Bucks added Fort Knox in Prospect as a second regular Shakespeare venue. 

“Just about every anniversary we’ve had has usually been standing out in the field, getting bitten by bugs, rehearsing a show,” Ron said. 

One of their favorite shows they’ve performed together was the bickering couple in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” They said it was fun because they’d never speak that way to each other in real life. 

“I got to say, ‘You make me puke,’” Julie said. 

“That was a good one,” Ron said. 

Now, more than 40 years have passed since the couple first met at the Cyrus Pavilion Theatre. Julie no longer thinks Ron is a geek and his now-gray beard has come in nicely — and they have no plans to leave the theater life behind. 

“It’s enervating,” she said. “Theater is energizing. It goes through a cycle. You get to the week before opening — we call it hell week — and you don’t think you’re going to get through it. Then you get to the play, and it’s just magic. It’s like getting high without drugs.” 

Ron sometimes thinks about it in sports terms. 

“The similarities are quite striking. There’s a team chemistry kind of thing in both endeavors,” he said. “There’s nothing quite as cool as when you’re telling a good story, and it’s being told well, and either the place bursts into laughter or you can hear a pin drop. It’s a very inviting, alluring, intoxicating kind of feeling.” 

Julie said she can’t even imagine her life without Ron or theater, both at 91±ŹÁÏ and off campus. 

“I’ve never made a ton of money but it’s made me outrageously happy,” she said. 

Story by Troy R. Bennett 

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu

The exhibition will display a wide variety of artwork made by 91±ŹÁÏ students including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, printmaking, digital art, photography, graphic design and more. 

Students who were enrolled in an art class in the fall 2025 semester or spring 2026 semester had the opportunity to submit up to six pieces for consideration in this juried exhibition. This year’s juror is artist Rochelle Lawrence, who also serves as the assistant curator and museum educator at 91±ŹÁÏ’s Zillman Art Museum.

Lord Hall is free, accessible and open to the public Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Please direct all questions to Diana Baumbach, director of galleries, at

diana.baumbach@maine.edu. 

91±ŹÁÏ student Maeve Littlefield has always been creative, and developed a passion for the scientific process late in high school. A sophomore majoring in biology, she found a class at 91±ŹÁÏ that combined her passion for science with her sense of creativity.

During the fall 2025 semester, she enrolled in a Research Learning Experience (RLE) that immersed her in the creative side of science communication and encouraged her to take risks by experimenting with new ways to understand and communicate research and science.

RLEs allow students to participate in real-world research, problem-solving and other hands-on learning early in their college careers, reflecting 91±ŹÁÏ’s commitment as a learner-centered R1 university and laying a stronger educational foundation and pathway to a meaningful career. 91±ŹÁÏ is a leader among the nation’s flagship institutions in offering these high-impact opportunities to all incoming students. 

They are funded as part of the 91±ŹÁÏ System’s Student Success and Retention initiative, which is made possible by a $320 million investment from the Harold Alfond Foundation and matching contributions known as UMS TRANSFORMS. 

Students in the fall course, “Creative Expression of Science” showcased prints, paintings, drawings, creative writing, digital storytelling and other pieces designed to improve how people engage with scientific concepts. Their projects encouraged each of them to use experimentation as a method of creativity and communication. 

Littlefield’s final portfolio included several artworks that used a block printing technique to represent the positive impressions humans leave on the environment.

“Sometimes we get caught up in seeing statistics about the environment and human impact,” Littlefield said. “But we also forget that adaptation and evolution make really resilient communities and populations, and that it’s not hopeless. It makes you want to fight more for these things that are important — that if we do lose them, they aren’t coming back.” 

Learning from local artists

The course featured guest lectures from local artists who showcased their creative processes and demonstrated how forms of communication can connect science and research with audiences on a personal level. Having built successful careers at the intersection of art and science, the speakers offered insight into their professional journeys and provided guidance to help students envision and pursue their own pathways to careers.

The first guest speaker, , did a block printing workshop during her visit and spoke about how to create environmentally conscious art. One of the co-instructors of the course, Holly White, said most students ended up doing at least one block print for their own projects.

“Her approach to making art that is place-based through an environmental lens really resonated with students,” said White, who is also a Ph.D. student at 91±ŹÁÏ. She co-instructed the course with Bridie McGreavy, associate professor of environmental communication. 

Other guest speakers included a children’s book author who narrates scientific themes digestible for youth; an ecologist and writer who encouraged students to reimagine scientific representations and consider the context beyond the data; and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. student at 91±ŹÁÏ who creates digital media to honor Wabanaki knowledge and cultures.

“I hope students left with the idea that science communication can be fun, creative and accessible and that you don’t need to be a professional artist to turn scientific ideas into art,” White said. “A goal of the class was to help students take risks, try new modes of expression and treat experimentation as a valuable part of the process.”

Littlefield said all the guest speakers spoke toward the power of perspective, which in turn informed her own work. “I was able to connect that with science and how we talk about how important diversity is,” Littlefield said. “Each species, each part of this ecosystem, is important and has its own role.”

Her piece titled “Underneath and All Around” shows a scuba diver engulfed in darkness except for an illuminated line of sight filled with different aquatic animals. The idea started from an experience one of the guest speakers shared. 

Drawing on success stories

’25G, a photographer and videographer who works with underwater drones, talked to the class about how to use visual communication in research and storytelling. As a former graduate research assistant for the Maine-eDNA project, she shaped, traced and explored communication and collaborative opportunities for the initiative’s coastal ecosystem monitoring research using underwater drones and virtual reality. 

She collaborated with other 91±ŹÁÏ graduate students to study how these technologies benefited the outreach for Maine-eDNA by engaging with researchers and K-12 students. Their work suggested that providing a new perspective can help people connect with and understand the environment in a new way.

By working directly with professionals like Smith-Mayo, students in “Creative Expression of Science” saw firsthand how exploring new forms of expression and applying creative thinking can address challenges facing Maine’s communities and beyond, such as the need to better understand and communicate changes in the Gulf of Maine.

Guest speaker ’15, ’18G combines data, landscapes and ecosystems to communicate the ways in which the Earth is changing. Her work integrates data into artistic backdrops, such as a line chart overlain on a mountain, and was even featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s July 2020 special issue “One Last Chance.”

Pelto, an Honors College graduate, studied studio art and Earth and climate sciences at 91±ŹÁÏ as an undergraduate, then stayed for the master’s program in Earth and climate sciences.

Her journey from an interdisciplinary student to a full time artist and small business owner followed a niche path and stands as a testament to the vastness of science communication. While the students’ own journeys would likely look different from hers, Pelto talked to them about the tangible aspects, like income and networking.

“What makes me love what I do is that it gets to be a little bit more broad,” Pelto said. “I love painting and creating the art, but I also love that I get to share it with people, like through class visits.”

Pelto accompanied a group of 91±ŹÁÏ students to Iceland in the summer of 2025 as part of the Sea-to-Sky Experience, which she’ll be joining again in 2026. She led them in art classes and created her own work inspired by the journey as students participated in research and learning across the Nordic country. 

Her personal connections to her work bonds her to it, and she strives to represent a variety of places in a way that will emotionally resonate with others like they have with her. 

Contact: Ashley Yates; ashley.depew@maine.edu

“The Midnight Work,” Jennifer Moxley’s eighth book of poetry, contemplates these changes as she enters and experiences midlife. Woven with nostalgia and tension, the professor of English at the 91±ŹÁÏ connects her immediate present and recent past through conversations with the more distant past or even the ancient world through lyrics and epistles, or letter poems.

“This book deals a lot with a contemplation of life at midlife, a little past midlife and thinking about a sort of metaphysical disquiet when looking back,” said Moxley. “There is a lot of nostalgia in this book and trying to figure out what it means to be in this world right at this moment.”

In the lyric poem “1900,” readers join Moxley and her husband on a summer expedition to a Hannaford grocery store amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel the frustration, fear and tired novelty of the situation. The poem grows tendrils as Moxley reflects on her “mother’s mother,” Leola Isabel Warnock Freeman, a portrait painter based in the American southwest. 

“1900” demonstrates how Moxley’s research feeds her emotive lines. A Campbell’s soup can emblazoned with a gold medallion, awarded the same year as her grandmother’s birth, leads her to lament that the internet, where she discovered that fact, knows more about her grandmother than she does. The poem continues as she considers the life of Helen Gahagan Douglas, an American actor and politician, also born in 1900; as well as Nathalie Sarraute, a Russian-born French writer born that same year. From that node of connection through time, Moxley weaves together elements of their lives and themes in their respective works. 

Moxley’s navigation through midlife, both in her life and in the book, is guided in part by Horace, a Roman poet from the first century, and Tao Qian, a Chinese poet from the fourth and fifth centuries. 

“When I started reading these poets around 2016-15, they just really spoke to where I was in my own life,” said Moxley. “They helped me negotiate the move into late middle age, which is a form of hell, I suppose.” 

The poets interrogate what it means to live a meaningful life in their work. “Both of them land on similar answers to that question, which is not the accumulation of material goods,” said Moxley. “It’s moderation, our relationship to good friends and wine and poetry and cultivating the land. Not ambition — worldly ambition — but quiet contemplation.”

Horace’s “Epistles” also inspired Moxley to write her own, ushering in a stylistic change from the lyrical voice of her previous works. Moxley’s epistles address the living and dead, close friends and complete strangers. The writing of the epistles was not a planned process, but a reflective one. Each epistle wound through her memories of the person it was written for, and of her own life. Moxley explained that she hoped the reader would find, “Some space that opens up in their own lives for reflection and contemplation,” in the same way she did.

While there is immense value in this contemplation, Moxley also acknowledges how taxing it can be. 

“Whenever you think about lost time, whenever you think about lost worlds, whenever you think about all the people you have loved who are no longer here, it’s sad,” said Moxley. “The emotional spaces that the poems put me in were sometimes very hard to recover from.”

As “The Midnight Work” debuts, Moxley is already looking forward, researching and composing her next work. She acknowledges, though, that for her readers, everything is just starting. 

“I would want them to have the experience that I had when I read Horace or Tao Qian, which is to feel some space that opens up in their own lives for reflection and contemplation and existential depth,” Moxley said. 

At the same time, she said there should be joy in the experience, adding that “I hope that I would bring delight in the reading of some of those moments.”

Contact: Daniel Timmermann, daniel.timmermann@maine.edu

For this year’s free concert, the 91±ŹÁÏ band is soliciting donations for Penquis, which provides resources for housing, transportation, heating, childcare, home repair, disability services and more to those in need. 

“Penquis does amazing work in the community and they are under-funded,” said Philip Edelman, the director of the concert band and School of Performing Arts. “We are giving back by helping them reach their goals a bit easier.” 

While practicing her trumpet, Kathleen Nee said fundraising for a good cause motivates her to perform her best. 

“I think Penquis is a really great organization that gives back to the community. It’s great that by having us play music it raises money for a good cause,” she said. 

The concert band will be accompanied by performers from Hampden Academy and the Leonard Middle School Band in Old Town. The joint performance allows middle and high school musicians to improve their craft by working alongside collegiate performers. 

“The 91±ŹÁÏ students also gain experience in mentorship with the younger students on stage with them,” Edelman said. 

91±ŹÁÏ student and bass trombone player Connor Maurice said he’s looking forward to raising money for charity through his music.

“Music is something I really enjoy. If everybody gets to listen to great music and it’s helping the community, that’s really good,” he said. 

The Concert Band welcomes students from all majors who are interested in performing a variety of concert music; no audition is required. Each spring, the group performs both on and off campus. Edelman said the cohort has been preparing advanced pieces for the Concert for a Cause 

“Expect very profound music and a whole lot of laughter,” Edelman said. 

Story by Rowan MacDonald, news intern

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu 

In the years since the Netflix series “Bridgerton” burst onto the scene, it has become a cultural phenomenon, a runaway success featuring Regency-era romance and palace intrigue wrapped in moments of bodice-ripping enthusiasm and unapologetic anachronism.

However, thanks to the new book,” a collection of essays edited by 91±ŹÁÏ professor of philosophy Jessica Miller and published by Wiley-Blackwell, we see that the series also provides an interesting lens through which to look at larger ideas.

The book is the latest entry in Blackwell’s ongoing Philosophy and Pop Culture series, which features essay collections that use a vast array of films, television shows and video games to highlight philosophical questions. The essays are conversational in tone and intended to be accessible to both general readers and devoted fans, allowing everyone to engage with the show in a whole new way.

“Bridgerton and Philosophy” features 22 essays exploring how the Netflix show and its prequel “Queen Charlotte” bring timeless philosophical questions to life — sometimes in a ballroom, sometimes in a bedroom and always with style.

Jessica Miller isn’t quite Lady Whistledown — or is she? — but the book she has assembled certainly uncovers some of the hidden truths regarding the people and places of “Bridgerton.”

91±ŹÁÏ News sat down with Miller for the following Q&A:

How did you come to participate in this project? What made ‘Bridgerton’ an apt framework for it?

“Bridgerton and Philosophy” is part of a series that introduces philosophy to lay audiences through popular culture. I have enjoyed writing essays for previous volumes. I thought “Bridgerton,” which is both a bestselling book series and a very popular Netflix show, would be a great addition. We can enjoy “Bridgerton” on one level as a swoony, opulent fantasy, but beneath the surface it touches on many important issues. 

What are some of the benefits of viewing philosophical concepts through this sort of pop cultural lens?

Philosophy can seem impractical, outdated, or intimidating. But it’s none of those things, really. Philosophers have always been interested in the same questions everyone is curious about: What is happiness? What is love? What is friendship? Learning about philosophy through pop culture helps people see that philosophy is for now and philosophy is for everyone. 

How long does it take for a book like this to come together? What does the process look like?

I pitched the idea to the publisher in spring 2024, so about two years. We put out a call for proposals, and had an amazing response from scholars all over the world. I worked closely with the authors to make sure the writing was insightful and witty. Their enthusiasm as fans really comes through. I love the idea that “Bridgerton” fans who get into online debates about 


[Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the first season, you may want to stop reading here.]


 whether Penelope should be forgiven for lying to Eloise about her secret identity as Lady Whistledown now have a thoughtful essay to read that brings philosophers’ work on deceit and moral repair into the discussion. 

I imagine there are a lot of surprises that can spring from a collection such as this, but was there an essay that particularly surprised you and/or subverted your expectations?

Because “Bridgerton” is a romantic drama, I knew that topics like sex, marriage, and love would be ripe for analysis. But we also have essays on surprising topics like the sport of boxing and the significance of the Duke of Hastings’ stutter. And a few of the essays tackle public reaction to the show, especially in the way it addresses race, weight bias, and queer identity. One essay explores how nature is used in the show to help story arcs, reflect emotions, and feed innermost desires. Characters get up to all sorts of mischief in those Regency gardens!

Were you a fan of the show before working on the book? Any favorite character(s)?

I was a fan of Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” novels, and then, of course, of the show. Romance is often dismissed as unrealistic, bad, or just “women’s stuff.” But romance has a vast audience and the potential to do important cultural work. In very different ways, philosophy and romance are asking some of the same questions, about how to live a meaningful life.

One of my favorite characters is Lady Danbury. Her traumatic backstory is told in “Queen Charlotte,” the “Bridgerton” prequel series, and she remains an important character throughout “Bridgerton.” I admire her resilience, her kindness, and her wit.

Contact: Allen Adams, allen.adams@maine.edu

The discussion will be held in the Davis Center for Human Ecology, Room 202, and will be followed by a reception at 6 p.m. at the Dorr Museum of Natural History.

The Island Soundscape Project is led by co-founders N.B. Aldrich, a 91±ŹÁÏ adjunct associate professor of art, and Steve Norton, a sound artist with a master of fine arts degree from 91±ŹÁÏ. 

The core team also includes Karen Beeftink, a 91±ŹÁÏ at Machias associate professor of recreation and tourism management, and Adriana Cavalcanti, an artist and plant biologist with a master of fine arts degree from 91±ŹÁÏ, along with student researchers and collaborators.

The event highlights “Soundmarks,” an immersive installation created by the Island Soundscape Project, an arts research collaborative working at the intersection of art, ecology and education.

Drawing on recordings gathered over two years at Maine Coast Heritage Trust preserves from southern Maine to Washington County, the installation compresses the sonic experiences of those landscapes into a dynamic, ever-shifting soundscape. 

The project captures and curates Maine’s coastal soundmarks — the distinct sounds that define a place — to better understand and preserve the identity of the state’s coastal communities.

“Soundmarks” will remain on exhibit through August at the Dorr Museum. The museum is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday through March 19. Spring and summer hours will be announced. Admission is by donation.

The show times are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. with doors opening one hour early. Both shows are free and open to the public.

“There is no more universal language than dance, and there is no better day than Valentine’s Day to celebrate its ties to love and unity,” said Sarah Joughin, senior associate director of the Office of International Programs.

This dance festival showcases traditional music, costumes and dances from different cultures. Twelve groups will represent 11 different countries and Puerto Rico, including a group performing a French Canadian Gigue and one representing Uzbekistan. A 91±ŹÁÏ alum who helped establish the Celtic Club is also returning to the stage with a group of Fife Irish Dancers.  

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the Office of International Programs, 207.581.3437; international@maine.edu.

The exhibition includes current and emeritus faculty from 91±ŹÁÏ’s Department of Art and the Intermedia Master of Fine Arts program. A diverse range of work from Diana Baumbach, Louise Bourne, Tim Conte, Samantha Jones, James Linehan, Andy Mauery and Susan Smith features digital photography, paintings and mixed media, among other works of art. 

Accompanying the exhibition will be free weekly programming titled, “The Mindful Eye.” Each Friday through March 13 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., the gallery offers exercises, yoga, meditation and pranayama (breathwork) using the artwork on display as a tool for mindfulness. This programming is supported by the Alton ’38 and Adelaide Hamm Campus Activities Fund.

Faculty exhibitions are presented on alternating years and showcase approximately half of the studio art faculty.

For more information on class visits, outreach activities or other related questions, contact Baumbach, who also serves as director of galleries, at diana.baumbach@maine.edu. 

Lord Hall Gallery is located on the first floor of Lord Hall and is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Events are free, accessible and open to the public.

Raised in Bristol, Rhode Island, Ramos was familiar with New England’s history but had never spent time in Maine’s wild blueberry barrens. That first season in the field introduced her not only to the ecology of the crop but to the people, labor and traditions tied to one of the state’s iconic foods.

Now preparing to graduate as an Honors College student with a double major in ecology and environmental sciences and studio art, Ramos shaped her education around that experience. As a rising sophomore, she joined the 91±ŹÁÏ Cooperative Extension’s Wild Blueberry Research Team and spent three summers exploring barrens in the midcoast and Downeast regions. 

Working alongside growers and researchers, she learned to observe the landscape closely, recording what she saw through notes, photos and sketches that would later inform her art. 

Her time in the fields quickly influenced her academic direction. What began as environmental research grew into a deeper artistic interest, prompting her to pursue additional studio courses and eventually focus her art on Maine’s wild blueberry heritage. 

“Meeting such passionate professors who believed in me and my work, it really helped me feel confident that I could pursue a degree in art,” Ramos said. “I have a connection to ecosystems, and I think that’s the part that I really see myself continuing to develop as a growing artist.”

Perspective of places, sciences she studies

Through her work, Ramos shares her perspective of the places and sciences she studies. She has focused part of her Honors thesis on the cultural heritage and history of Maine’s lowbush blueberries. 

Her series of watercolor paintings show the vastness of the fields and the people who handrake them each summer. Her colors are earthy and soft, created from natural soil based pigments.

In the future, Ramos may even explore using blueberries and other plants or fruits with natural pigments to create her own watercolors. After earning her degree this winter, she plans to stay in Maine making environmental art that speaks to the importance of conserving natural resources and places that, like people, are entangled in Earth’s larger ecosystems.

“I definitely feel so much love for Maine that I’ve come to really feel like it’s my second home while studying here in college,” said Ramos, who is also an ambassador for the Honors College. “There’s so many different, intersecting factors of the natural landscape and community.”

Connecting fieldwork with cultural heritage

In high school, Ramos said she never connected to science classes like chemistry and physics. She never saw herself as being a lab scientist and had always been drawn to “the humanity side of learning and topics.”

It wasn’t until she came to 91±ŹÁÏ and gained research experiences outdoors that she started using art to communicate what she was learning about in the environment. One of her first pieces that combined science and art was a large watercolor painting depicting workers in long rows of vegetable fields, held up by two large hands. 

She aimed to raise awareness of how these agricultural workers harvest much of America’s food. Ramos continued to thread that theme into her work with Extension’s Wild Blueberry Research Team, led by Extension specialist Lily Calderwood.

“It is incredibly important to share the grit and humanity behind agricultural commodities in a time when people are very disconnected from their food, especially who harvests their food,” Calderwood said. “This industry is culturally and economically important for the state of Maine. Its preservation touches a lot of people who live here year round and those who visit.”

Talked to growers about management and more

With Calderwood’s team, Ramos talked to growers about management practices, economics and ecological obstacles, such as from pests, disease and drought. She said they echoed similar challenges regarding low-profit seasons and labor shortages, as well as unpredictable temperatures and precipitation making field management and yield predictability difficult. 

Despite the challenges they face, Ramos said the growers uphold a strong commitment to and pride for the wild blueberry industry and its cultural significance in Maine.

Along with talking to the growers, Ramos harvested blueberries with local, seasonal and Passamaquoddy and Mi’kmaq tribal hand-rakers in the fields to learn about their perspectives and traditions when it comes to wild blueberries.

Calderwood said Ramos’ paintings reflect aspects of Maine’s wild blueberry industry that research does not — the social aspects of the people who grow them, the fields where they’re grown and the state economy in which blueberries contribute $360 million annually.

“Artwork has always been a special way to convey the natural world, and it is grounding to see that art is still such a powerful communication tool,” Calderwood said.

Contact: Ashley Yates; ashley.depew@maine.edu

Timothy Simons, a 2001 graduate of the 91±ŹÁÏ, is hoping to hear his name called Sunday, Jan. 4, when the Critics Choice Awards are handed out.

Simons earned a nomination for best supporting actor in a comedy series for his role as Sasha in the

The , which will be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, will air live at 7 p.m. on E! and USA Network.

A native of Readfield, Maine, Simons studied theater at 91±ŹÁÏ and was active in campus productions. He is best known for his breakout role as Jonah Ryan on

Simons has credited his hands-on experience at 91±ŹÁÏ with helping him build a foothold in the industry. In fact, he told that a campus work study job gave him practical skills that helped him find steady work in theater while establishing his acting career.

“One of the great things about 91±ŹÁÏ was that I had a work-study job in the scene shop, and those skills really served me well through a decade of Chicago and L.A.,” Simons said. “I knew carpentry. I could do set load-in. When I first got to L.A., I jumped in on a set load-in at a fellow 91±ŹÁÏ alum’s play. That led to jobs. I could pay the bills by doing things in the theater world, on or off stage.”

Simons continues to give back to 91±ŹÁÏ, helping establish the . He has also worked with the 91±ŹÁÏ Foundation on .

Contact: David Nordman, david.nordman@maine.edu

Linda and her late husband, Donald Zillman, shared a decades-long relationship with 91±ŹÁÏ shaped by leadership and sustained philanthropy. Donald Zillman, who died in July 2023, served in leadership roles across the 91±ŹÁÏ System for more than three decades, while Linda Zillman, who died in September 2025, was an art historian and a longtime advocate for the visual arts.

The gift includes more than $2.1 million for the Honors College, the largest one-time donation in its history, and more than $1.4 million for the Linda G. and Donald N. Zillman Art Museum – 91±ŹÁÏ, which was named in the couple’s honor in 2020 following their $1.3 million naming gift.

“This extraordinary gift from Linda Zillman reflects a lifelong commitment to excellence in both the arts and education,” President Ferrini-Mundy said. “Her generosity to our flagship university will expand opportunities for 91±ŹÁÏ honors students while strengthening the Zillman Art Museum as a valuable cultural and educational resource for the entire state.”

For the 91±ŹÁÏ Foundation, the gift represents the culmination of a long relationship built on trust, shared purpose and transformative generosity.

“Our staff worked with Linda and Don for many years. They had been very generous donors for a long time,” Mills said. “Their gift to the university in their estate plan exemplified their desire to make a significant impact on both the museum and the 91±ŹÁÏ Honors College as their legacy.”

The gift to the Honors College will advance its role as a hub of transformative student learning at 91±ŹÁÏ, according to Dean Ellen Weinauer.

“As we celebrate 90 years of Honors at 91±ŹÁÏ, the Zillmans’ generous investment both recognizes our legacy on campus and paves the way for an even more vibrant future,” Weinauer said.

Linda Zillman played a key role in relocating the 91±ŹÁÏ Museum of Art to downtown Bangor and served for more than a decade on the museum’s support board. The Zillmans’ legacy — from expanded gallery space to sustained exhibition funding — continues to shape the museum, said Executive Director and Curator George Kinghorn.

“Throughout the years, Don and Linda Zillman were actively involved in advancing the museum’s mission and expanding its capacity to deliver top-tier contemporary art exhibitions and programs for the 91±ŹÁÏ community and visitors,” Kinghorn said. “From the addition of five galleries to ensuring sustained exhibition funding, they were extraordinary champions for the visual arts. Through this transformative bequest, Linda Zillman ensures the museum — their shared legacy — will continue to provide the life-enriching experience of viewing original art.”

In addition to 91±ŹÁÏ, the 91±ŹÁÏ at Presque Isle is also receiving a significant estate gift from Linda Zillman.

“Linda and Don Zillman believed deeply in the power of Maine’s public universities to expand opportunity and enrich communities across the state,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “Consistent with that, this extraordinary gift will strengthen our flagship university’s ability to serve students and the public good for generations to come. Even after their passing, the Zillmans continue to positively impact the 91±ŹÁÏ System and inspire us all to honor their incredible legacy by elevating excellence in academics and the arts.”  

Contact: David Nordman, david.nordman@maine.edu

As part of her Honors College thesis, deBest is writing and illustrating “A Field Guide to Intertidal Species of Maine. She aims to create a scientifically accurate and visually engaging resource that documents key intertidal organisms in the Gulf of Maine, including crustaceans, mollusks, algae and echinoderms such as sea stars and sea urchins.

“I want to make marine life approachable and inspiring. Visual storytelling helps people connect to the ecosystems around them,” said deBest, who’s studying ecology and environmental sciences with a concentration in marine ecology. 

The field guide will serve as both a scientific reference and an educational tool and will be available in digital and print format.

A passion for animal conservation 

During summer 2024, deBest completed an animal care internship at the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana — the state’s oldest zoo. There, she gained hands-on experience in professional animal care, behavioral observation and conservation focused management. Working alongside experienced zookeepers, she helped prepare meals for animals with specialized diets and clean and maintain animal enclosures. She also monitored animal behavior and welfare for various species, including poison dart frogs, snow leopards, giraffes and red pandas; and trained and fed river otters, zebras, diana monkeys and sand cats, among other animals.

“The internship deepened my respect for the complexity of caring for such diverse species. It reinforced my passion for combining animal care with scientific research and conservation outreach,” deBest said.

The following summer, deBest joined Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, where she assisted in research using bioacoustics to study the foraging behaviors of shell-crushing predators. The experience expanded her technical skills in data collection and analysis while connecting her fieldwork to broader ecological questions about predator-prey interactions in marine systems.

DeBest said Amalia Harrington, assistant professor of marine biology and a member of her honors thesis committee, has supported and inspired her throughout this interdisciplinary project.

Outside of her academic pursuits, deBest has found her rhythm in the 91±ŹÁÏ community, whether playing trumpet on Brass Night or cheering at hockey games — moments that helped make Orono feel like her “ home away from home.” She also enjoys exploring Maine’s outdoors, particularly Acadia National Park and the coastlines that continue to inspire her artistic and scientific work.

She is the recipient of the highest tier of 91±ŹÁÏ’s merit scholarships, which recognizes excellence prior to enrolling, and the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) scholarship, which recognizes students who contribute creatively to the arts while pursuing academic excellence.

As deBest prepares to graduate, she said she is still exploring what comes next. Though she is certain of one thing: her future will involve working with animals, whether through research, conservation or care.

Story by Corey Nicholas, student news writer

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu

During the 31st annual Wabanaki Winter Market, over 60 Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq artists will showcase and sell their basketry, jewelry, beadwork, wood carvings, birchbark work and other pieces. The free event will also feature brown ash pounding and demonstrations, children’s workshops, storytelling, traditional music, drumming and dancing.

The 91±ŹÁÏ Hudson Museum, located inside the CCA will be open during the event and feature an exhibit of photography by Jason Pardilla titled “How Water Connects Us.” The images were taken through the lens of a PanawĂĄhpskewi (Penobscot), and demonstrate connection to water by picturing water itself, the craft used to travel by it and Indigenous communities who live by it. These images reveal items used to provide sustenance and places important to Indigenous people. 

Attendees will also have an opportunity to meet Jeremy Frey, an award-winning Passamaquoddy basketmaker and . From 11 a.m.-noon, Frey will sign copies of his exhibit catalog titled “Woven.” The catalog was organized by the Portland Museum of Art and traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Bruce Museum. Sales of the catalog will benefit the Penobscot Nation Museum.

The Hudson Museum will be collecting non-perishable food items during the market for the Penobscot Nation Food Pantry. 

Additional information and full schedule of events is available on the Hudson Museum website. 

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Hudson Museum Director Gretchen Faulkner by emailing gretchen.faulkner@maine.edu.

Each semester, roughly 10 students form a crew that helps Kryszak with his professional filmmaking. They rotate between directing, running sound, editing and filming on location shoots. The goal, Kryszak said, is to give students both technical expertise and confidence to work collaboratively in a professional setting.

“My film students don’t make practice videos. They’re real, and the students’ work is what makes them happen,” said Kryszak, a film and media lecturer at 91±ŹÁÏ Machias. “From the beginning, they’re a working film crew.”

The documentaries Kryszak’s students have worked on have garnered thousands of online views, been aired by more than a dozen PBS stations nationwide and been featured in the Toronto Short Film Festival. They cover a wide variety of topics, including food insecurity, secrets and rural life. 

“Instead of speaking through my own work, I help people tell stories that have never been heard before. That’s the same experience I want my students to have,” Kryszak said. 

Students receive official production credits and leave the program with professional portfolios that can lead to careers in journalism, media and digital production. Some of Kryszak’s former students now work in video production and editing roles around Maine and beyond. Others continue pursuing independent creative projects using the techniques they learned in his classes.

91±ŹÁÏ Machias student Dana Gonzales recorded b-roll and edited Kryszak’s latest documentary, “Serf’s Up,” which will air in 2026. She said she did not expect a film course to be as interactive or supportive as Kryszak’s class.  

“He made us feel like part of a team,” she said, “not just students doing what the instructor said.” 

A working mother, Gonzales added that she appreciated how Kryszak made space for students balancing other responsibilities.

“He understood that life happens,” Gonzales said. “If I couldn’t be on campus, Zoom was always available. He made sure we could participate no matter what.”

Kryszak said his class is designed to accommodate beginners while still challenging advanced students. Everyone works on the same project together, learning as a team rather than in isolation. He likens his approach to ensemble-based learning, where each person contributes to a shared goal.

“No one’s left alone to figure it out,” he said. “It’s completely for beginners if it needs to be, but everyone learns together.”

‘Serf’s Up’

“Serf’s Up” will premiere Feb. 22 at the Collins Center for the Arts and March 8 at the 91±ŹÁÏ Machias Performing Arts Center. Kryszak said the idea for “Serf’s Up” began as a wordplay on “surf’s up” but developed into an examination of modern “serfdom.” He wanted to highlight the growing challenges people face in an economy where wages, housing and opportunity often fail to keep up with cost of living.

“Every generation struggles,” he said. “But this one’s different. The systems people are born into now make it harder to climb out. I wanted students to see that and to help tell that story themselves.”

For Gonzales, the project inspired her to think about how documentaries can shine a light on issues that often go unnoticed.

“Not a lot of people talk about this stuff,” she said. “It made me want to be more involved, knowing that someone would see it and start paying attention.”

Although the semester officially ends in December, Kryszak invites students to continue working on editing and post-production well into the new year. Some return on weekends to polish the film or prepare for public screenings.

“The open invite is always there,” he said. “Come in on Saturday to Torrey Hall and we’ll edit together.”

For Kryszak, that commitment reflects what makes the creative arts program at 91±ŹÁÏ Machias distinct. The university emphasizes experiential learning, and the Down East Documentary course embodies that philosophy by combining technical training, community engagement and storytelling.

“These films don’t just teach students how to make movies,” he said. “They teach them how to listen, how to collaborate and how to use their skills to make a difference.”

Story written by news intern Corey Nicholas

Contact: Marcus Wolf; marcus.wolf@maine.edu

Ranging from digital artwork and paintings to ceramic and glass sculpture, this year’s exhibition, titled “UpRouted,” emphasizes the uniqueness of each students’ journey. The artists explore themes of identity, transformation and growth, visualizing how lived experiences become embedded in creativity. 

The exhibition is fully planned and carried out by the students, including creating the artwork; preparing, curating and installing the show; and doing the promotion, fundraising and event planning.

A reception celebrating the seniors’ artwork and accomplishments will be held Nov. 14 from 5-7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Artists whose work is on display include:

• Anthony Belenger of Bangor
• Allison Bishop of Gorham
• Miguel A. Camacho of Metepec, Mexico
• Ruby Day of Belfast
• Piper Galipeau of Presque Isle
• Leanor Jordon of Parsonfield
• Sarina Martin of Bucksport
• Haley Metzger of Bangor
• Lior Nachtigal of Brookline, Massachusetts 
• Vi Nelson of Howland
• Kaity Sawicki of Damariscotta
• Josh Smith of Bradford

Lord Hall Gallery is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

Director of galleries Diana Baumbach can be contacted by emailing diana.baumbach@maine.edu.

Support for this exhibition was provided by the McGillicuddy Humanities Center and 91±ŹÁÏ Dining.

Performers include members of the University Singers, the Collegiate Chorale, the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus and the Acadia Choral Society, as well as many professional soloists.

“Considering Matthew Shepard” is a musical piece about the titular Shepard, a University of Wyoming student whose murder in 1998 sparked a conversation about hate crimes that led to the passage of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act a decade later. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased .

“This is one of the biggest, most important concerts I have been involved with in my time at 91±ŹÁÏ,” said Francis Vogt, director of choral activities and voice instructor for the School of Performing Arts. Vogt is also the conductor of the University Singers. 

Rebecca DeWan, the Libra assistant professor of choral/general music education in the School of Performing Arts Division of Music, serves as the producer of the concert, spearheading an effort that is supported in part by a $10,000 grant from the McGillicuddy Humanities Center..

“This epic work incorporates so many different genres and styles of music,” said DeWan. “Composer Craig Hella Johnson writes so beautifully for choirs. However, it is such a large work with many moving parts, so it has required a great deal of planning and multiple musical forces to put it together.”

Visit the School of Performing Arts website to learn more about the performance.