A Letter from the Executive Director

When good King Alfred ruled the Anglo-Saxons in the 9th century, he was troubled by the low state of learning in his country. A few monks could read Latin, but his people spoke what was called Englisc, and there were hardly any books in that rough tongue to be had. Amid fighting the Danes, Alfred found time to commission the translation of all the texts "it was most needful for men to know" and to start what we at the Maine Humanities Council would call New Books, New Readers programs for the new adult readers among his thanes.

I got to hear some wonderful samples of gnarly Englisc not long ago when the medievalist Dan Donoghue read aloud from Beowulf the Anglo-Saxons' masterpiece, at our Humanities Winter Weekend. More than 100 people had quickly signed up for the sold-out program, which featured a close reading of Seamus Heaney's splendid new Beowulf translation and discussions with scholars about Anglo-Saxon and Norse culture.

Beowulf has survived some 1,000 years, which puts the Maine Humanities Council's 25th anniversary this year in humbling perspective, but there is a very direct link between what we do and what King Alfred sought to do with his far-sighted translation initiative. The power & pleasure of ideas might survive in oral tradition, but we know that today the concept can flourish only in a highly literate society. And that means reaching out beyond our traditional venues to seek new audiences in other-than-traditional places. The Bolduc Correctional Facility, for example, or the Maine Youth Center.

Or Hadlock Field in Portland. I confess I have a special fondness for ballparks - my first date with my husband was at a Dodgers' double-header at Ebbets Field - and we are delighted to be able to celebrate the winners of our Letters About Literature contest at the Sea Dogs' game on June 3 (see story, facing page).

None of this "just happens." We have no King Alfred to underwrite us. Much of our work statewide - including grants to community organizations through the New Century program -depends on the fate of LD 1433, the Cultural Affairs Council's legislative initiative now being considered in Augusta. If you care about what we do, if you think it is vital to the civic health of Maine, please voice your support for continued funding. It faces tougher passage in the current budgetary situation than the groundbreaking legislation two years ago. We need your help today!

Dorothy Schwartz

P.S. It's always good to discover the ripple effects of our programs. Newsletter editor Charles Calhoun's essay on what cultural tourism could mean for Washington County in the Fall 2000 issue of Maine Policy Review grew out of our heritage tourism weekend there two years earlier. And congratulations to newsletter designer Lynda Litchfield for the much-praised exhibition of her recent paintings at Portland's June Fitzpatrick Gallery.