Maine's Still Reading

Buddy Doyle left California in 1999 to reunite with his high school sweetheart after 35 years apart. Their story inspired his not yet published memoir Musical Chairs, in which he reflects on finally finding both a seat and someone to share it with in Maine. During his West Coast years, Doyle worked in advertising and design, copywriting, and photography. His career took him across diverse industries—from tourism and finance to food packaging, theater, and Hollywood projects ranging from mainstream to decidedly unconventional. Along the way, he had the privilege of meeting legends like Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz, and picked up countless stories (and bar tabs) from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Doyle describes his creative interests as being "all over the lots," and it's in those various lots where he's encountered the fascinating people who inspire his work. Today, he lives on a three-quarter-acre property in Gardiner, Maine, with his wife Geri and their equally fascinating Golden doodle, Riley. He is the author of Where Maine Reads, published in 2024, with the sequel Maine's Still Reading forthcoming from Islandport Press in 2026. You can find him and his work at Buddy Doyle Creative: https://buddydoyle.com

“The portraits and memories in Maine’s Still Reading celebrate Maine’s literary heritage and the power of reading to open our minds to new worlds. Through Buddy Doyle’s lens, the images offer a glimpse into the lives of our neighbors, showing how stories—on the page or in a photograph—connect us. I hope this collection inspires you to pick up a new book or share a favorite with a friend, so we can continue to encourage the next generation of great readers and writers in Maine.” —Tara Rice, Photo Editor, Down East Magazine

“Looking through Buddy Doyle’s gorgeously composed, unaltered photographs of Mainers immersed in reading, I find myself blinking back tears of joy. Really. Look at these far-flung people—some known, some not—lost in a moment familiar to any passionate reader. I adore their rumpled clothes, their cats and dogs, their armchairs and backyards and ferry decks and hammocks, and most of all their brief accounts of what books mean to them. Maine’s Still Reading gives me a sense of oneness I can’t explain. If only I could say to these readers, every one of them: ‘I know!  I love you!’” —Monica Wood, Author of How to Read a Book, The Million Dollar Boy, and When We Were the Kennedys 

“The photographs in this book are delightful windows into people’s love of reading. Doyle assembles a wide range of Mainers and showcases not only where they read but what they read and why. It’s a classic consideration of that magic mixture of imagery and words coalesced on the printed page that is worthy of a home on many Maine coffee tables.” —Gregory Rec, Chief Photographer, Portland Press Herald