WELD — Wednesday afternoon, more than one hundred people gathered at Kawanhee Inn to hear several authors with ties to this small community talk about their work. 

The event was a fundraiser for the Weld Free Public Library’s renovation project. Organiser Madeline Bujold greeted everyone and thanked Kawanhee Inn for the use of their facility. 50/50 raffle tickets were sold and there was a place for donations to be left.

Fourteen authors were on hand to give a brief talk about their work. Most gave a short description of the inspiration behind their work. The authors have written novels, cookbooks, scientific papers, nature books, historical pieces and memoirs.

Anne Agan has had short stories published in Down East and The Sun Magazine. She is currently working on a memoir, Last Time I Danced with my Father. She has been inspired by an 86 year old mentor who told her to write about your passion.                                                                                                      

Betsey Anderson’s book, Maggie Goes to Maine, was inspired by watching her real-life black Lab, Maggie, romp freely at the family’s summer camp. She was named the winner in the children’s book category in the 2014 Dog Writer’s Association of America’s Writing Competition.

John J. B. Anderson is a retired professor who co-authored The Mediterranean Way of Eating with Marilyn C. Sparling, one of his former students. His book emphasizes a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. He said, anyone can adapt to it easily.

Robert Corell is a scientist whose book will be available by Labor Day. Greenhouse gases and new shipping lanes are impacting the Arctic. His work, Global Warming and the Oceans: Melting of the Ice Caps, Sea Level Rise and Acidification, is part of a lecture series held by The Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

H. Coval Conant has written two books for young adults. While the books are fictitious, “A lot of the things happened to me,” he said. Vern and Me is the story of a two family farm in the 1930s and what happens when they discover their land might be for sale. I’ll Be Back, Judith: The Big Changes Have Come continues the story taking the characters to World War II.

Barbara Hardenbrook’s Forgotten Letters uses letters and pictures to tell about time her father spent in China. “He was a traveller, an adventurer, not a missionary,” she said. He helped bring the first panda to the U.S.

Bernd Heinrich, a longtime biology professor, has written many nature books for which he has won awards. He said his first book was about his observations of a bumblebee. He next wrote about a pet owl he had in Weld. “I’ve been writing books ever since,” he said.

Gil Embreee is a guitarist who writes about amps and stringed instruments. Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarthy’s Golden Era, 1948-1966 covers the greatest period in the manufacture of guitars.

Elliot Maynard feels it is time to “stop the endless cycle of kill or be killed.” He has created a new environmentally friendly operating system that is explained in Brave New Mind: Living in a Future-Science World. Humans are creating much larger footprints today. Maynard shares 25 key focal points that bring ancient methods and new technology together. “I guarantee this book will change your life,” he said.

Tricia Keene had never written before. Married to the same person for 42 years and the mother of three great kids, she asked, “What do you do after the kids have cleared out?” Out With the Old tells how to enjoy the trip to 120 and challenges the views many have on aging and growth for those over 65.

Joy Swan’s book is a collection of short stories. Aunt Susy’s Boarding House: The Story of a Girl Growing Up in Maine shares her many childhood experiences while growing up in Weld, Dixfield and Wilton. Her grandchildren had asked her to write them a story. “At age 83 I thought pretty soon I was going to get old,” she said. That’s when she began. Her book will bring back a lot of things people in this area might have forgotten including murders and mysteries.

Nancy Maynard is a NASA research scientist. She worked on an impact study of native Americans and has spent time in Norway researching the indigenous reindeer herders. She has said the tundra is one of her favorite places.

Martha Vining’s cookbook, Generations of Recipes, is a compilation of tried and true recipes from her family. “These recipes are still being used today,” she said.

Sean Minear is co-author of I Remember When…A Weld Family Album. He also wrote The Weld Watershed: Artists of Weld and edited a collection of poems, Weld is as Big as a Squash. Minear also worked on “The Blue Book” which was also about Weld’s history. He said none of these books are available for sale as all copies have been sold.

After the presentations, books could be purchased and autographed. Authors were also available to answer questions.

Bujold said Thursday morning that more than $500 was raised for the library. “It was certainly a surprise,” she added. The 50/50 raffle was won by Jane Hembree and she donated her winnings to the library fund.

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