Books by Dean Lunt
"Deserves to be read by everyone and anyone with even a trace of curiosity about the Maine coast, its social history, its romance, and, above all, the men, women and children born and raised on that coast." —John N. Cole
Hauling by Hand
The Life and Times of a Maine Island
by Dean Lawrence Lunt
Hauling by Hand tells the remarkable story of Frenchboro, Long Island, a fishing village that sits eight miles off the coast—one of Maine's most remote outposts. It is one of only 14 Maine islands still supporting a year-round community, while only a century ago, there were some 300. The island's roots were set in the early 1800s by the Lunt family and a small band of pioneers who carved a community from the spruce and granite shores. Fueled by the shipping and fishing industries, Long Island evolved from outpost to important offshore port before economic changes transformed the island into a hardscrabble turn-of-the-century fishing village where nearly 200 residents scratched a living from depleted fishing stocks and rocky soil. Today, the town of Frenchboro has a population of less than fifty people and it has neither a general store nor tourist hotel nor daily ferry service. Instead there is a village, a soul, a history, and a way of life.
Praise
"Hauling by Hand is a smasher. There are two types of life-on-a-Maine-Island books, the cut-and-dried facts and the fantasy. This one, however, is totally different, it's the real thing."
—The Courier-Gazette
"Speaks more truth about the Maine coast and its people than you are likely to find in any other volume on any bookshelf in any library."—The Sun Journal
"Beautiful writing, exhaustive research, and fascinating insights!"—Writer's Digest
"Drink deep of the history and lore of a true island community and perhaps, at last, know it fore the first time."—The Bar Harbor Times
"(Hauling by Hand) is one of those gems that come along once in a while but, unfortunately, not often enough."—Maine Boats, Homes, and Harbors
Ella V. Lunt (1908-2000)
About
"I used to do wash all day on a scrub board for a dollar and then I would wash floors. I used to paint Cliff's boats, paint his punts, paint his buoys, and paint his tub trawls. I used to bait trawls, too. God I used work down there on the wharf when it was cold enough to freeze the hair off your head, but I wouldn't give in. I stayed right there. I tell you I have worked, it has not been all a pleasurable life. It has been rugged, but I don't regret a day of it, not one day. I feel proud of what I have done for myself and Cliff."
"Lunt is a polished and entertaining writer who has done his homework. ... He makes these subjects interesting." —Central Maine Newspapers
Here for Generations
The Story of a Maine Bank and its City
By Dean Lawrence Lunt
Introduction by Stephen King
Here for Generations tells the remarkable tale of a town and a bank that have moved in concert for 150 years. The book captures their sweeping history through triumph and tragedy and brings to life the fascinating people and events that have shaped their journey. The bank's roots were set in the 1830s, when the bustling city of Bangor lured the best and the brightest of Maine's adventurers to its port and commercial center. Bangor was the Lumber Capital of the World, complete with all the intrigue of a riverfront boomtown-potential riches and busted dreams, wealthy lumber barons, and rowdy lumbermen and sailors. Among those who arrived in this city on the rise were Elijah L. Hamlin and 23 other men. Most came from humble origins, but all came with a dream. Through hard work and vision, they built businesses and institutions and emerged as the city's great leaders. In 1852, these men―businessmen, lawyers, artisans, and merchants―came together in a philanthropic effort to create Bangor Savings Bank.