The new book “Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship: The Correspondence of E.B. White and Edmund Ware Smith” is now for sale at Skidompha Public Library in downtown Damariscotta.
E.B. White and Edmund Ware Smith, popular authors who had homes in Maine, maintained a lively correspondence that began in 1956 and ended when Smith died in 1967. Smith and his wife Mary lived in Damariscotta. When she died in 1980, the letters were donated to the library and tucked away in a bank vault, to be rediscovered by library staffers in 2016. Besides the letters, the book includes an introduction by Martha White, E.B. White’s granddaughter, and essays written by these two prolific writers.
Sales of the book benefit the library.
To buy the book, patrons may phone the library at 563-5513, email info@skidompha.org, or stop by during curbside hours and ask for one. Books may be mailed from the library or picked up at the back door during pickup hours. The library accepts credit cards, cash, and checks, as well as gift certificates from the Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop. The charge for the book is $24.95, plus postage for copies that are mailed.
The library building remains closed to the public because of the pandemic, with curbside pickup only.
Pickup will be suspended for the holiday week, from Dec. 24 through Jan. 4, resuming on Jan. 5 at 10 a.m.
Regular pickup hours are as follows: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. There are no pickup hours Monday, Thursday, or Sunday.
For more information about the book or the library, call 563-5513 or go to skidompha.org.
