Jeff Aronson was invited to speak at the dedication of the Harriet Henry Center for the Book. Here is an excerpt from his remarks: "The Maine Humanities Council has enabled me to meet loggers in Fort Kent, mill workers in Millinocket, child care workers in Houlton, adult education students and instructors from Fryeburg to Machias, Sanford to Eastport. For years, I spent two mornings a month in Augusta with Head Start parents and teachers, exploring their lives.There, women who could not find their voice — literally — became leaders and valued workers. One woman who would not speak at first without blushing and whispering learned to become assertive and a Head Start parent leader within a year — all through the power of the discourse of ideas.

Of the hundreds of Mainers who’ve shared their ideas with me, let me close with a man who lived on Vinalhaven. At age 55, he couldn’t learn to read. But at the Council’s New Books, New Readers program he discovered books on tape. When he found a tape recorder at the town dump, he entered the world of books. It sat by his side in his pick-up truck. He would stop me on the street, hold up the tape cover at me, and ask if I’d read the book. When I admitted I hadn’t, he gave me a look of ‘and you consider yourself an educated man!’"