Legendary editor
will dish on life
in food, Julia Child
PORTLAND — The Portland Museum of Art will host legendary editor Judith Jones, who will speak about her life in food, working with world-renowned chef Julia Child and her latest book, “The Pleasures of Cooking for One.”

The lecture will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, at the Holiday Inn By the Bay.

Senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf since 1959, Jones is best known for her editorial work as the champion behind the underappreciated book proposal that became the revolutionary cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” written by Child and two women from France.

Besides her numerous collaborations with Child, Jones worked as editor for first-rate cookbook writers and chefs James Beard, Jacques Pépin and Nina Simonds. She is the co-author with Evan Jones (her late husband) of two books: “The Book of Bread: Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!” (for children) and “The Book of New New England Cookery.”

Jones also collaborated with Angus Cameron on “The L.L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook.” Her memoir, “The 10th Muse: My Life in Food,” relates tales of running an illegal restaurant in Paris and learning from Child how to de-tendon a goose (with a broomstick) among other details.

In 2006, Jones was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She was featured in O magazine’s October 2009 issue and appeared Nov. 22 on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

Tickets for the lecture, $15, may be purchased at portlandmuseum.org or by calling 775-6148, ext. 3227. A book signing will follow the lecture.

Book signings:
• FREEPORT — As part of Kids’ Winter Fun Week, L.L. Bean will host a storytime and book signing by Aileen Darragh, illustrator of the children’s picture book “Give A Goat.” The book is based on the true story of a Maine classroom working to help families in need around the world. The event will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16. L.L. Bean is at 95 Main St. For more information, call 1-877-755-2326.

• PORTLAND — Award-winning historian and former legislator Neil Rolde will discuss his new book, “Maine in the World: Stories of Some of Those From Here Who Went Away,” at noon Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the Maine Historical Society. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing. The society is at 489 Congress St. For more information, call 774-1822 or visit www.mainehistory.org.

• FALMOUTH — Maine Audubon will hold a Naturalists’ Forum with an illustrated presentation by University of Maine at Farmington professor emeritus Dean B. Bennett, author of the new book, “Nature and Renewal: The Wild River Valley and Beyond.” The book is a story of land abuse and stewardship, ecological disaster and renewal, and nature’s vulnerability and resiliency. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Maine Audubon, 20 Gilsland Farm Road. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing. For more information, call 781-2330 or visit www.maineaudubon.org.

Adventure novel for young adults set in Maine
WINTHROP — Ben Thomas, director of guidance services at Winthrop High School, a ham radio operator and a Master Maine Guide, has written an adventure novel for young adults.

In “Code Breaker,” Sam Ryder finds a secret German code hidden since World War II in an abandoned Maine cabin. His race to decipher the code is set in Yarmouth and Freeport and at L.L. Bean and Casco Bay. The University of Maine’s Stone House at Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park plays an important role in the end, as does Bowdoin College.

According to Thomas, there are still many German World War II pieces of history in our midst, such as the Spencer Lake prisoner-of-war camp mentioned in “Code Breaker” and observation towers on Jewell and Bailey islands and in Cushing.

“Code Breaker,” which offers adventure, suspense, romance and a twist at the end, is available at Appley Valley Books, Barnes and Noble, Mr. Paperback, Amazon.com and North Country Press, 126 Main St. PO Box Box 501, Unity.

A graduate of the University of Maine, with a master’s degree in education, Thomas has written four other books: “No Horns Blowing,” reprinted as “Canoeing Maine #1;” “Hot Blood and Wet Paddles;” “The Weekender,” reprinted as “Canoeing Maine #2;” and “Your Pocket Guide to the Maine Outdoors.”