Bigfoot in Maine update, summer musings!

Hi everyone! The warm weather is finally here (mostly), and even the sporadic rainy days are good days to get out into a part of Maine you haven't seen yet.

I'm plugging away on the book, and excited to report that I'm working on the last major chapter (Durham Gorilla!), then all I have to do is add a few bits and pieces in to catch up with some last minute interviews and site visits elsewhere... and then the illustrations!

It's pretty exciting to finally be closing in on what is at this point a decade-long project. It's also exciting that it has been well worth it. I've met a lot of amazing people, and gotten to poke around in corners of Maine I might never have seen otherwise.

It has also become obvious that finally packing the manuscript off to the publisher when I've finished and done a final edit is NOT going to be the end of the work. This project has started what looks to be a lifetime's worth of recording Maine's Bigfoot-related oral history and scattered accounts. I have a feeling that I'll continue exploring this Strange Maine topic for many years to come, even after the book is done.

Skowhegan region driveabout on a rainy day!

Most recently I've been up in the Skowhegan region, where a series of late-1970s sightings occurred. It was a rainy day, but we covered a lot of ground, albeit in a truck because it was pouring rain and there were many meandering miles to traverse, many of them on dirt roads. Many thanks to those of you out there (you know who you are) that helped make this happen.

One of the most important things I've learned throughout this whole process is to be patient, and to be careful. If what I'm hearing from people is as real as it seems to be, we have neighbors that need our respect and possibly someday our protection. It's an intriguing thought to chew on.

I've also learned how important it is to be able to talk openly about the unexplained, because many people encounter it in their lives, always unexpectedly, and if we can't listen to others respectfully about their experiences, we can be sure that if we ever find ourselves in the same situation, ridicule will await us as well.

So please stop and think before you disparage or slap someone down just because they're trying to sincerely share something with you that they can't explain, but need to talk about. Small steps towards making this a better world for all of us. It doesn't take much, guys!

Maine Bigfoot encounters - still interested!

A quick note to say YES, I am still interested in hearing from anyone with Maine Bigfoot sightings.

Latest focus of interest is Livermore to Northport corridor, including a swath north and south of this east-west corridor -- for instance China, Unity, Camden, Turner, Leeds, and everything in between.

Please email me (see link in sidebar to right), or call (207)450-6695 and leave a message with a good time to call you back, if you or someone you know has had encounters with something they can't explain in this region, or anywhere else in the state.

BIgfoot in Maine update

Over the last two months I have been putting out the call for information on sightings of Bigfoot in Maine. The reason for this is to fill in the blanks in Maine's historic record when it comes to sightings within this state of large mystery mammals, specifically hominids.

I have had a reasonably good response, and have been able to add a few new incidents to the record. However, I would like to add more. Perhaps optimistically, I theorize that there are many unexplained sightings in Maine that are not on record.

If you or someone you know has had such a sighting or experience, please feel free to call me on my cellphone at (207)450-6695, or email me at michelle.souliere@gmail.com -- or you can write me at P.O. Box 5302, Portland, Maine 04101.

For those of you who haven't had an experience of your own, but who are interested in what has been gleaned so far, I can tell you that I have one very interesting sighting from up in Aroostook County (and honestly I hope for more from this quarter of the state, along with the Allagash and Golden Road). I can also tell you that I have been surprised by multiple reports from the midcoast area.

I am very interested in speaking to more people who have had inexplicable experiences with large mammals in the Maine woods. The more interviews I can complete, the clearer the patterns and trends will become, I hope. Also, with more accounts, the historic record of Maine sightings will become more complete.

The end goal of this is to pull all these stories together, no matter how far apart in time and distance, in a single volume, along with Maine's historic sightings and cultural expressions of interest in Bigfoot. Because if one thing is completely clear, it is that Mainers sometimes encounter things in the woods that are not run-of-the-mill. And even if we can't figure out what exactly those things are, we are definitely interested in hearing more about them from people who have run into them.