As we look back at our past in the images collected here, we see that times were harder and life simpler in the old days, but that every photograph proclaims a sense of community and pride. As Frank Spizuoco writes in his introduction: I just love these people. With all their idiosyncracies, warmth, meanness, concern, generosity: I love them. The lives of these people had to be recorded. There is so much humanity to tell about: people defining an age. The people who live, laugh, love, and die define an age, define a community, define Dexter. History tells us who we are as a people, and the photographs left behind help us tell the story of the people who lived here. The photographs chosen for this book were meant to say something, to relate a story that is part of our culture. To show the sinews of life, and to help hand down the heritage of rural Maine. I want to give people a sense of continuity, to bridge a generation gap, to show how fascinating ordinary life can be. I want the world to know these people, how they lived, and what they did.
