Weekly Interview, Susan Dudley Gold - by Amanda Estes
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Susan Dudley Gold is currently engulfed in Scarborough history. As the editor of Scarborough at 350: Linking the Past to the Present, Gold has taken on the task of gathering, organizing, and writing the stories that comprise the town’s history, from its incorporation on July 14, 1658 to present day. The book, slated to hit bookshelves in October, will be published in time for Christmas and will serve as the precursor for next summer’s commemorative events.
Gold said during an interview at her home in Saco that her task is similar to “reigning in a gang of wild kittens.” She is working with approximately 70 volunteers who have contributed submissions. Submissions have come from both professional and amateur historians as well as people who grew up in Scarborough or have relatives in the town. She said submissions have come from as far away as Missouri, California, and England. The California woman is a historian of the Mormon Church and her submission told the story of a Scarborough resident who was a prominent figure in the church. The submission from England will come from the Scarborough across the pond. Although the deadline for submissions has already passed, Gold said she has yet to see the submission on the connection between the two towns, but said the author is a teacher so he presumably has a good excuse.
Gold said the book is a “massive undertaking.” To the best of her knowledge, it is the first time a group of volunteers has come together to culminate Scarborough’s history. The idea of producing a book first came about two years ago after Town Councilor Sylvia Most saw a similar book produced by the town of York. Most put the idea out to the Friends of Scarborough 350th and Gold was hired to aid in the effort to bring Scarborough’s history together.
“There is a wealth of material,” Gold said. “My job is to put it in a form people can read.” Gold said she tries not to edit the submissions too much because she wants to maintain the author’s voice. Although it is essentially a tome of history, Gold said it is “not going to be dry material.”
Gold picked out a few stories that she said, “really make history come alive.” One story accounts the experiences of a former classmate of Gold’s who served in the Vietnam War. While the author discusses the horrible events he saw during war, Gold said he also recalls his commanding officer telling the men to change out of their uniforms once they returned home because they might be abused.
In another story, Anna Delaware, a member of the Scarborough Historical Society, remembers going to the Portland airport, which was located in Scarborough at the time, and meeting Charles Lindbergh. During the visit, she was allowed to hold Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s kittens.
“It just makes history come alive,” Gold said. “Scarborough is a part of the world and here is Charles Lindbergh coming to Scarborough.”
Another story recalls a visit from a traveling circus in the 1930s. Gold said the truck broke down and the group was forced to house their elephants in the town garage.
“The kids loved it-they all came and were able to touch the elephants and look at them,” Gold said, “but the town garage crew wasn’t so appreciative because they had to clean it up after they left.”
Keeping with the trend of the unusual, the book will also contain a story about Dr. Wentworth’s dental practice in the early 1900s. A young boy needed a tooth pulled and not having the benefit of modern day anesthesia, the dentist gave him some whiskey. As Dr. Wentworth extracted the tooth, the boy wrapped his legs around the potbelly stove to brace himself against the pain.
“The worst part of it was that his mother was a teetotaler and he had to go home under the influence of whiskey,” Gold said. “It really brings alive the people of the town and how they lived.” The community, she said, is fortunate to have so many older people who can remember 80 years of history.
Gold said the book would also contain some pieces written by the community’s younger generation on subjects ranging from sports standouts to text messaging. There will also be stories on the Gym Dandies, the Academic Decathlon, and current businesses. Gold said the book would also contain at least a list of Scarborough residents who have gone to Iraq, if not some kind of report.
“We want this to be a book that the next 50th celebration will be able to look at this book and know how we lived today, as well as how people lived 50 years ago (and) 100 years ago,” she said.
Gold has worked on the project off and on for the last two years and has reserved the next month to work on the book exclusively. An editor by trade and a history enthusiast, Gold has ample experience in producing comprehensive historical documents. Gold has written 40 nonfiction children’s books, most recently about landmark Supreme Court cases, including Brown vs. Education, U.S. vs. New York Times, and Roe vs. Wade. Gold said she finds the Supreme Court fascinating.
“A lot of those cases established the American way of life,” she said.
Gold has also written books covering landmark legislation, a biography of Lyndon Johnson for high school students, and a history of Portland’s Union Wharf. Gold said she enjoyed the opportunity to give “a personal face to the history” of the Union Wharf area.
She said people seem to be more interested in the personal aspects of history.
“People are becoming more aware of personal history,” she said. “I see a lot of interest in genealogy (and) scrap bookers are documenting their own personal history.” She said for too long, history has been taught by people who aren’t really interested in the subject.
Gold said her eighth grade teacher, Abigail Libby, who “made history come alive.” She also said she comes from a family of storytellers. People frequently suggested she write a book about her mother because she was hysterical, she said. Gold will include pieces of her own personal history in Scarborough at 350, including a humorous story about her family and the phone system in the 1950s. Her family moved to Scarborough when she was five months old.
Order forms for the 350 limited edition copies of Scarborough at 350 can be found at www.scarborough350.org . The limited copies are numbered 1 to 350 and contain a lithographed plate with the authors’ signatures. The 400-page coffee table book will contain a 16-page insert of artwork by Winslow Homer and local artists.
Staff Writer
Susan Dudley Gold is currently engulfed in Scarborough history. As the editor of Scarborough at 350: Linking the Past to the Present, Gold has taken on the task of gathering, organizing, and writing the stories that comprise the town’s history, from its incorporation on July 14, 1658 to present day. The book, slated to hit bookshelves in October, will be published in time for Christmas and will serve as the precursor for next summer’s commemorative events.
Gold said during an interview at her home in Saco that her task is similar to “reigning in a gang of wild kittens.” She is working with approximately 70 volunteers who have contributed submissions. Submissions have come from both professional and amateur historians as well as people who grew up in Scarborough or have relatives in the town. She said submissions have come from as far away as Missouri, California, and England. The California woman is a historian of the Mormon Church and her submission told the story of a Scarborough resident who was a prominent figure in the church. The submission from England will come from the Scarborough across the pond. Although the deadline for submissions has already passed, Gold said she has yet to see the submission on the connection between the two towns, but said the author is a teacher so he presumably has a good excuse.
Gold said the book is a “massive undertaking.” To the best of her knowledge, it is the first time a group of volunteers has come together to culminate Scarborough’s history. The idea of producing a book first came about two years ago after Town Councilor Sylvia Most saw a similar book produced by the town of York. Most put the idea out to the Friends of Scarborough 350th and Gold was hired to aid in the effort to bring Scarborough’s history together.
“There is a wealth of material,” Gold said. “My job is to put it in a form people can read.” Gold said she tries not to edit the submissions too much because she wants to maintain the author’s voice. Although it is essentially a tome of history, Gold said it is “not going to be dry material.”
Gold picked out a few stories that she said, “really make history come alive.” One story accounts the experiences of a former classmate of Gold’s who served in the Vietnam War. While the author discusses the horrible events he saw during war, Gold said he also recalls his commanding officer telling the men to change out of their uniforms once they returned home because they might be abused.
In another story, Anna Delaware, a member of the Scarborough Historical Society, remembers going to the Portland airport, which was located in Scarborough at the time, and meeting Charles Lindbergh. During the visit, she was allowed to hold Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s kittens.
“It just makes history come alive,” Gold said. “Scarborough is a part of the world and here is Charles Lindbergh coming to Scarborough.”
Another story recalls a visit from a traveling circus in the 1930s. Gold said the truck broke down and the group was forced to house their elephants in the town garage.
“The kids loved it-they all came and were able to touch the elephants and look at them,” Gold said, “but the town garage crew wasn’t so appreciative because they had to clean it up after they left.”
Keeping with the trend of the unusual, the book will also contain a story about Dr. Wentworth’s dental practice in the early 1900s. A young boy needed a tooth pulled and not having the benefit of modern day anesthesia, the dentist gave him some whiskey. As Dr. Wentworth extracted the tooth, the boy wrapped his legs around the potbelly stove to brace himself against the pain.
“The worst part of it was that his mother was a teetotaler and he had to go home under the influence of whiskey,” Gold said. “It really brings alive the people of the town and how they lived.” The community, she said, is fortunate to have so many older people who can remember 80 years of history.
Gold said the book would also contain some pieces written by the community’s younger generation on subjects ranging from sports standouts to text messaging. There will also be stories on the Gym Dandies, the Academic Decathlon, and current businesses. Gold said the book would also contain at least a list of Scarborough residents who have gone to Iraq, if not some kind of report.
“We want this to be a book that the next 50th celebration will be able to look at this book and know how we lived today, as well as how people lived 50 years ago (and) 100 years ago,” she said.
Gold has worked on the project off and on for the last two years and has reserved the next month to work on the book exclusively. An editor by trade and a history enthusiast, Gold has ample experience in producing comprehensive historical documents. Gold has written 40 nonfiction children’s books, most recently about landmark Supreme Court cases, including Brown vs. Education, U.S. vs. New York Times, and Roe vs. Wade. Gold said she finds the Supreme Court fascinating.
“A lot of those cases established the American way of life,” she said.
Gold has also written books covering landmark legislation, a biography of Lyndon Johnson for high school students, and a history of Portland’s Union Wharf. Gold said she enjoyed the opportunity to give “a personal face to the history” of the Union Wharf area.
She said people seem to be more interested in the personal aspects of history.
“People are becoming more aware of personal history,” she said. “I see a lot of interest in genealogy (and) scrap bookers are documenting their own personal history.” She said for too long, history has been taught by people who aren’t really interested in the subject.
Gold said her eighth grade teacher, Abigail Libby, who “made history come alive.” She also said she comes from a family of storytellers. People frequently suggested she write a book about her mother because she was hysterical, she said. Gold will include pieces of her own personal history in Scarborough at 350, including a humorous story about her family and the phone system in the 1950s. Her family moved to Scarborough when she was five months old.
Order forms for the 350 limited edition copies of Scarborough at 350 can be found at www.scarborough350.org . The limited copies are numbered 1 to 350 and contain a lithographed plate with the authors’ signatures. The 400-page coffee table book will contain a 16-page insert of artwork by Winslow Homer and local artists.
Comments