Islandport Press

Nine Mile Bridge: Three Years in the Maine Woods, Paperback/Helen Hamlin

In this critically acclaimed Maine classic, first published in 1945, Helen Hamlin writes of her adventures teaching school at a remote Maine lumber camp and then of living deep in the Maine wilderness with her game warden husband. Her experiences are a must-read for anyone who loves the untamed nature and wondrous beauty of Maine's north woods and the unique spirit of those who lived there. In the 1930s, in spite of being warned that remote Churchill Depot was no place for a woman, the remarkable Helen Hamlin set off at age twenty to teach school at the isolated lumber camp at the headwaters of the Allagash River. She eventually married a game warden and moved deeper into the wilderness. In her book, Hamlin captures that time in her life, complete with the trappers, foresters, lumbermen, woods folk, wild animals, and natural splendor that she found at Umsaskis Lake and then at Nine Mile Bridge on the St. John River. About the Author: Helen Hamlin was born in 1917 and was raised in the Northern Aroostook County town of Fort Kent, Maine. Growing up in a family of game wardens, she had a deep appreciation and love of both the culture of the North Woods and its inspirational beauty. It was a love affair that lasted her entire life. After teaching school in a remote lumber camp and living deep in the Maine wilderness as the wife of a fish and game warden, Hamlin went on to run the Parmachenee Club, worked as a portrait painter, wrote a best-selling book, served as a French translator in Africa, and traveled the world. She died in 2004.