Where Cool Waters Flow: Four Seasons with a Master Maine Guide
Maine books come and go, of course. Hundreds of titles by hundreds of authors vow to take readers places they've never gone and to explore the rich traditions we locals sometimes take for granted.Some succeed. Some fall short of expectations. Others fall in the middle of that continuum. And then there'sWhere Cool Waters Flow.Spencer's book, quite simply, is the rare local volume that I can honestly recommend with the highest praise a fellow writer can muster: I wish I'd written it. But I couldn't have. Spencer's prose is clean, quick and witty. He successfully transports readers from their living room easy chairs to the wilds of Grand Lake Stream, and does so without bombarding them with strings of adjectives designed to paint the picture he sees in his mind.Instead, like the songwriter he is, he picks his words judiciously, commits to them and makes them do his bidding.And the result is a stunning portrait of a truly special place, illuminated by the people who live for their yearly visits to those remote Maine woods.You may find a better Maine book thanWhere Cool Waters Flow.You may find a better outdoor book.You may.I haven't.Where Cool Waters Flowis not a fishing book. It's not a hunting or trapping book. It's not even a historical account of the village of Grand Lake Stream.It is, somehow, all of those things at once -- and none of them at all.The book traces a guide's life over the four seasons of life in a remote Maine town, and touches on many of the sporting activities that clients are able to sample. And it's the tales about those clients that help the book shine.If you've never visited Grand Lake Stream, reading this book will likely compel you to do so.And if you have spent some time fly-fishing the stream, trolling West Grand or casting for bass on one of the other lakes in the area, reading this book will help you appreciate this special place even more.And that, I figure, is about as good as it gets. --John Holyoke, Bangor (ME) Daily NewsTo say that Randy Spencer has written a nice book about Maine is not to damn him with faint praise. Nice is not a backhanded term for blandness, but an umbrella that covers such vastly underrated virtues as good manners, good humor, and good company. Spencer provides all three inWhere Cool Waters Flowas well as a portrait of one of Maine's most beautiful and beguiling villages: Grand Lake Stream. --Roberta Scruggs, Down East Magazine[Randy Spencer] is a talented wordsmith ... Here he tells of the sporting history of the Grand Lake Stream area from the 1800s, the famous "Grand Laker" canoes, and the influence of Fly Rod Crosby, the first woman to become a licensed guide in 1897. Best, however, are his wonderful stories of people. --Kennebec (ME) Journal