Douglas Preston took work contributed by Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Scott Turow, Margaret Atwood and many others to create a single story, set on the rooftop of a Manhattan tenement during the pandemic.
Ray Routhier
Staff Writer
Ray Routhier has written about pop culture, movies, TV, music and lifestyle trends for the Portland Press Herald since 1993. He is continually fascinated with stories that show the unique character of Maine’s people and places. He’s written about why so many businesses use the made-up word “Mainely” in their names, how you can trace Portland’s history through its various smells and why Mainers lament the loss of Portland-made B&M baked beans. He’s interviewed a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, musicians and authors, including Patrick Dempsey, Tony Shalhoub, Richard Russo, Tess Gerritsen, Tony Bennett, Anna Kendrick, and Stephen King. His passions, besides writing, include baseball history, old movies and “Jeopardy!” A native of Manchester, New Hampshire, he graduated with a degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire. He lives in South Portland with his wife and two children.
This Maine actor is on screen now in 2 Oscar-nominated films
Dustin Tucker, who also is starring in a Good Theater play, has a small role as a teacher in ‘The Holdovers’ and a memorable scene in ‘American Fiction.’
Early uses of color printing come into focus at Osher Map Library
‘A Pageant of Spectacles: Chromolithography in America’ is on view in Portland through June 29.
How a note in an antique dress from Searsport created a sensation
A 19th century bustle dress bought in Searsport a decade ago made national news last week, after a researcher decoded an old telegraph message found inside it.
Community hopes opera house will take center stage in Norway once again
The Norway Opera House has been quiet for some 40 years, but more than $1.7 million in federal money is earmarked for its renovation and revival.
Marty Engstrom, Maine’s reluctant celebrity TV weatherman, dies at 86
Known as ‘Marty on the Mountain,’ he was trained as a broadcast engineer but gave weather reports from the top of Mount Washington for WMTW for 38 years.
What Mainers read in 2023
Maine authors and subjects were big sellers at the state’s indie bookstores this year, including recent releases ‘Big Heart, Little Stove’ by Lost Kitchen owner Erin French and ‘Maine: A Love Story” by artist Blue Butterfield.
DirecTV customers in Maine have been without local NBC stations since Nov. 30
About 50,000 customers don’t have access to the News Center Maine stations in Portland and Bangor.
From maple syrup to ‘The Maine Christmas Song,’ children’s book publisher encapsulates the state
Stephanie Mulligan’s McSea Books has published nearly two dozen titles since 2019, including ones on iconic Maine subjects.
Fred, the dog who helped a Maine combat veteran ‘live again,’ dies of cancer
Craig Grossi found Fred in war-torn Afghanistan and wrote 2 books about how the dog helped him gain control of his life, making the pair in-demand public speakers and Fred a social media star.