A somewhat forgotten and misunderstood book
which can be aligned with Thoreau's Walden
except we are in rural Maine with George Dennison's
personal journals and his playwright ear for neighbor
portraits — landscape & lingo — and while George passed away
far too soon (1987) to put these pages together into what others
have predicted would be a masterpiece, it's all in the eyes of the beholder.
I met George Dennison once upon a time when we hosted a
gala for a fine Vermont poet and George was there and while
everyone took their chosen corners of our house to bed down
for the night, George said he'd be just as happy out in the front
yard, under the starry hemlocks and the August night with
his sleeping bag. In Temple there is short passagewhere George describes a home place
and it may as well be George describing himself,
"The house and grounds are so attractive, cheerful and open —
ample, generous, farm and home."
The book and author — unique.
[ BA ]
Steerforth Press
1994
As for those that criticize Temple for being
merely loose pages from a journal by Dennison —
have a look at Shawno
a gem of a book at 86 pages
straight out of the heart of Temple, Maine
in the home built by Finns as George would write
and his lovely companion, a dog, called Shawno.
___________________
Schocken Books, 1984
