OUR STAFF and what we read

OUR STAFF PICKS represent those books that, from time to time, one or another of us feels impelled to single out for special mention. They are not necessarily the latest best sellers. In fact, they might well be books that have been around for some time – might even be old as the hills. But, in all cases, these are books that have moved us, transported us, thrilled us, shocked us, opened our eyes or simply given us good reason to call attention to them.

SUSAN PORTER has been at the Maine Coast Book Shop since 1974 and has had a lot to do with making the store what it is today. She has been owner of the business since 1986. Books, the world of literature and her eclectic interests in most things are what have led her through well over thirty years in the business.

READING PREFERENCES: Fiction and Non-fiction, Mystery, Biography, Memoir, Gardening, Travel, Architecture. 

LAURI CAMPBELL has been with us since 2004. Because of her love of children's books, she has become the buyer for them as well as the Young adult titles. Never at a loss for creative ideas, she pulls out all the stops for author events. You'll know her by her long dark hair and determined stride.

READING PREFERENCES: North Woods Fiction, Adventure, Historical Biography and Children’s Books.

BARNABY PORTER (married to owner, Susan Porter) is our Building Manager. His is a many-faceted and not-very-well-defined job that keeps him moving from basement to roof, ladder to staff meeting, plumber’s helper to computer keyboard and is bound to include a bunch of other things we haven’t dared spring on him yet. He’s valuable not only because we don’t have to pay him much but because he brings to the job a whole lot of experience from other areas in his life.

READING PREFERENCES: Non-fiction, Science, History, Nature, Space, Biography, Adventure, The Human Condition.

NICOLE OLIVIER was born and raised in NYC to the callings of artist, teacher, high-end caterer and theater person – on and off the stage. She loves reading, writing, singing and all things French. Nicole is responsible for many of our wonderful window displays. She adores her two adult daughters and forever misses her beloved corgi, Roger. Nicole lives in Damariscotta.

READING PREFERENCES: Non-fiction, poetry, children’s literature and cookbooks.

SUSAN RICHARDSON joined us in 2000 when she retired from FedEx after 16 years. She is affectionately known as “Sue FedEx” by many of our customers (and dogs) who knew her from before. Her interests include photography, hiking, kayaking and dogs. Her power animal is the mountain lion. Sue lives in Richmond with her best pal, a Yellow Lab named “Marsh.”

READING PREFERENCES: Fiction and Suspense.

SANDY VOGELS has been with the Maine Coast Book Shop since April 2007. His previous experience as a bookseller was as the manager of Books Etc. in Portland, Maine. Always enchanted by books and bookstores, Sandy, even as a child, started a library in the attic for his friends. His background includes traveling, studying yoga in India and working on organic farms in British Columbia and New Mexico.

READING PREFERENCES: Books on Sustainable Living and Local Food, Poetry, Eastern Religion and Quirky Cookbooks.

CHLOE DEBLOIS is a recent college graduate whose first experience with the Maine Coast Book Shop involved a violent tantrum caused by The Little Fur family. She has since learned to temper her appetite for books – but not her passion – believing that an eclectic taste in reading reflects her varied interests in life.

READING PREFERENCES: Historical fiction, Philosophy, Science and Nature.

JOANNE COTTON has been with the bookshop since 1986. She runs our Shipping & Receiving Department as well as placing most of the orders for toys, games and cards and much of the Maine-related book selection.` No detail of our daily operations escapes her attention, and, judging from the sounds emanating from the back room, there is no such thing as a radio tune she can’t sing. Her greatest pride and joy is her son Beecher Cotton, who is an up and coming cinematographer in the film industry.

READING PREFERENCES: Fiction, Non-fiction, Biographies, Children's Books.

KATHLEEN CREAMER worked her way into the bookshop via a brief café stint in 2003.She has a weakness for black cats, rock music and anything or anyone of the Celtic persuasion. Along with Lauri and Sue, she makes up the Holy Trinity of Cancerian booksellers here at the shop. In her spare time she likes to write poetry and go to concerts. Her favorite author is Ian McEwan.

READING PREFERENCES: Fiction, Memoirs, Music and Metaphysical.

HESTER STUHLMAN has been coming to the Damariscotta area with her husband since 1969. An enthusiastic reader, she, her husband, Byron, and son, Jonathan, spent a lot of time in the bookshop when they were here in the summer, and Hester started working in our store, off and on, 12 years ago. Now that Byron has retired and they have moved to Round Pond permanently, she’ll be working at the MCBS year-round. She has been a teacher, a museum docent, a bookseller at Colgate University, part of the Tapestry Singers and St. Andrews Choir . . . and so comes to us with quite a variety of interests. Art History is one of her great passions – so too are children’s books – and she is an avid reader of contemporary fiction.

PIP is a special member of our staff and official Bookshop Dog. Besides being our stuffed animal wrangler, he is also our floor monitor and customer relations director. He came to us all the way from Tibet, via the highly regarded dog breeder, Peggy Kunau, at karmapatibetans@comcast.net in Nottingham, New Hampshire. While he gives the impression of being part panda, he is not, but is rather one of an ancient breed, called Tibetan Terriers.

READING PREFERENCES: Fiction and non-fiction in the Dog and Cat arenas, nature in general, field guides, and any new releases that have to do with old bones and fire hydrants.

SHELL BENSON is our secret weapon (if “business is war”) behind the scenes. She is our bookkeeper. She assiduously sees to it that all our ”i’s” and “t’s” are dotted and crossed and, most importantly and unfailingly, that all our decimals are in the right places and our bills paid on time . . . always. Shell is our Dragon Lady, coming to us in 2005 with years of experience, the most important of which might have been a stint in a feline clinic where tooth and nail assaults on her person were a regular part of her day. We don’t mess with her.