Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140Featuring original works of fine art, photography and limited-edition prints by regional and local artists. 372 Fore Street Portland, Maine 04101 (207) 874-8084 www.forestreetgallery.com Partners 12 x 12, acrylic on canvas, Jeffery Sabol Featuring original works of fine art, photography and limited-edition prints by regional and local artists. 372 Fore Street Portland, Maine 04101 (207) 874-8084 www.forestreetgallery.com Monhegan Morning Paul Black 11 x 14 oil 50 EXCHANGE STREET PORTLAND, MAINE 207.761.4432 Custom designs our specialty foliajewelr y.com 16 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine Editorial Colin W. Sargent, Editor & Publisher Reading: Do You Dare? R eading is a deep and convincing pas- sage to another place and time. So ful- ly do we lose ourselves while reading a book or magazine that cognitive literature scholar Susanne Reichl of the University of Vi- enna has suggested we become separate beings while we read–we’re here yet not here–“homo le- gens…the reading human.’’ Moments before writing this, I disappeared into Mexico in early 1938. A monkey crashed through the trees above my chair. The sky, alive with mosquitoes “like sewing machines,” is still with me. The comfortable feel of the book’s pa- per pages helped me transition into homo legens and disappear into this world. Where is this ex- otic doorway? Under the cover of Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory. Which is why printed books and magazines will never be replaced by the internet. Pop-ups, streaming, email alerts, and other interruptions can’t help but prevent us from reaching deep- est into the reading experience. The internet may be irreplaceable, but so is real reading with a real book or magazine. Far from being homo legens, we are homo interruptus while checking online to see Trump’s latest gaffe or skimming a few skidding graphs on our mobiles (some- times while driving). Naomi S. Baron, author of The Fate of Reading in a Digital World, ironically addresses read- ers of The Huffington Post: “Studies I have done with university students in several countries confirm what I bet you’ll find yourself observing. When reading either for (school) work or pleasure, the preponderance of students found it easiest to concentrate when reading in print. They also reported multitasking almost three times as much when reading on-screen as when reading in hard copy.” The same Huffington Post story whispers “Students don’t connect emo- tionally with on-screen texts.” A Guardian study “gave half its participants a story on paper, and the other half the same story on screen…Screen readers didn’t feel that the story was as immersive, and therefore weren’t able to connect with it on an emotional level.” W hich is the key to everything, unless you feel emotions don’t count. It’s funny–the most compelling evidence for the genuine value of print media is the internet. (Buy all the print newspapers you can right now, because they’re on the eve of a renaissance). More and more, our distracted culture is discovering that just when digital read- ers might be descending into the magic of reading, they’re yanked out of it by click-bait, snarky redirections, or malware. How many confirmed non-readers have you heard say, “I get all the news I need from my smartphone.” Some people really believe they read entire newspapers on- line, or certainly could if they wanted to. Except they often don’t. These might be the same peo- ple who didn’t really read before there were smartphones. Someone or some early childhood experience deprived them from celebrating the delicious thrill of reading with a capital R. Which leaves you and me. This July/August issue is full of doors, each one a story designed to transport you to a favorite spot or even a place you’ve never seen before. People inside these stories are waiting to speak with you. Curl up with these tales, created for you by our writers for whom style is still in style. When you read this magazine, your past, present, and future is in your hands. Maybe you won’t lose yourself so much as find yourself here.