Category Archives: Mount Desert Island/Maine

Anonymous benefactor continued: OZ Literacy Fund

Posted on April 13, 2012 by sheilawill

Oz Books closed on March 17, 1997. My still unknown anonymous benefactor decided to set up a nonprofit for me to run so I could continue providing literacy programs on Mount Desert Island, Maine. I found out my “guardian angel” … Continue reading →

Posted in Fight wimpiness, Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Going forward, remembering my anonymous benefactor

Posted on April 2, 2012 by sheilawill

It’s been a while. I’m starting a big writing project, no, continuing a project I’ve been working on my whole life. Here’s my request: if I tell snippets of a story will you let me know what questions you have, … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism/Writing, Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

The inconvenient truth about education

Posted on March 20, 2012 by sheilawill

I needed a large iced coffee to head to the Loft Cinema on a sunshiny Saturday morning  a movie, a documentary at that.  “The Inconvenient Truth behind Waiting for Superman” was too New Yorky, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some … Continue reading →

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Children’s books/authors are on my mind

Posted on March 6, 2012 by sheilawill

Maybe it’s owning a bookstore for all those years, maybe it’s remembering all the fun we had with authors at Oz Books in Southwest Harbor, maybe it’s the impact that author friends and books have had on me my whole … Continue reading →

Posted in Mount Desert Island/Maine, Tucson Festival of Books/good books | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Restored Faith: an Independent and a Republican

Posted on February 29, 2012 by sheilawill

A brain is a terrible thing to waste. Education isn’t about being a “snob”; it’s about questioning your own views and considering those of others, reading and listening and evaluating. It’s called critical thinking, not making up your mind about … Continue reading →

Posted in Fight wimpiness, Mount Desert Island/Maine, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Out The Window”

Posted on January 21, 2012 by sheilawill

Stunned to find a typo in a Donald Hall piece in the New Yorker, I was also stunned to imagine myself really old.  “Out The Window,” a personal history of the former poet laureate’s winter at age 83, reminds me of … Continue reading →

Posted in Baby Boomers, Family Matters, Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

In my house

Posted on August 25, 2011 by sheilawill

If it all works out, a lobsterman will move into my Southwest Harbor home this weekend. Perfect timing. A major relief for me to have the house occupied through howling winds, ice and snow. Winter renters have moved in and … Continue reading →

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Hello again — from east to west

Posted on July 22, 2011 by sheilawill

Flying home to Tucson from my home in Southwest Harbor, Maine, I’m sipping on Bailey’s Irish Cream on the rocks, wified on board this Southwest Airlines flight west. I’ve been east — down east — for three weeks. Who said … Continue reading →

Posted in Mount Desert Island/Maine, Tucson Festival of Books/good books | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Home sweet Maine home

Posted on July 9, 2011 by sheilawill

It’s been a week since I drove onto Mount Desert Island, my former home for 25 years, now my second home. That’s right, I have a second home in Southwest Harbor, Maine. When I owned Oz Books vacationers came in … Continue reading →

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“Island Boy” blue day

Posted on July 3, 2011 by sheilawill

Oh Barbara Cooney, I miss you. It all comes back to me here on Mount Desert Island, growing up with Brook and Ethan, running Oz Books, all my dear friends and wonderful community. I remember Barbara’s sense of humor, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments