Ruth Moore (1903–1989) was an important Maine writer of the twentieth century. She is best known for her honest portrayals of Maine people and evocative descriptions of the state. Now primarily thought of as a regional writer, Moore was a significant literary figure on the national stage during her career. Her second novel ''Spoonhandle'' spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in the company of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

, W. Somerset Maugham and Robert Penn Warren. In her time, Moore was hailed as "New England's only answer to Faulkner".''When Foley Craddock Tore Off My Grandfather's Thumb'', Blackberry Books, 2004.

Life

Moore's family first settled the Maine midcoast region in the late 18th century. She was born in 1903 on Gotts Island, a small island just off the southwestern tip of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Moore attended Albany State Teacher's College (now SUNY Albany) and majored in English and economics. In 1926, Moore moved to New York City where she worked as personal secretary to Mary White Ovington, one of the founders of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. Ovington had spent many summers at her brother's cottage on Gotts Island and had gotten to know the Moore family. In 1929 Moore accepted a position as Assistant Campaign Manager with the NAACP working directly for the organization's head James Weldon Johnson. In the summer of 1930, she traveled to the south as an NAACP investigator, where she successfully unearthed evidence that led to the freeing to two African American youths falsely accused of murder.Richard Hallet, "Spoonhandle Comes Back To Maine", ''Portland Sunday Telegram'', October 5, 1947. Moore's first published work, a poem "Voyage", appeared in a 1929 issue of the '' Saturday Review of Literature''. Moore returned to Maine in late 1930. She enrolled in a master's program at the University of Maine, but left after one semester and returned to New York City. From 1932 to 1935, Moore worked as assistant to Dr. John Haynes Holmes, a prominent minister and associate of Ovington's. In 1935, the novelist

Alice Tisdale Hobart Alice Tisdale Hobart (January 28, 1882 – March 14, 1967) born Alice Nourse in Lockport, New York, was an American novelist. Her most famous book, '' Oil for the Lamps of China'', which was also made into a film, drew heavily on her experiences ...

hired Moore. She moved with the Hobarts, first to Washington, D.C., then to Berkeley California. During a visit to Maine in 1940, Moore's sister introduced her to

Eleanor Mayo Eleanor Mayo (1920–1981) was an American novelist of the mid twentieth century. She lived most of her life on Mount Desert Island, Maine. She was raised in Southwest Harbor, Maine. She was the life companion of the well known Maine novelist Ru ...

. Mayo accompanied Moore on her return to California with the intention of attending the University of California. The two would remain together until Mayo's death from a brain tumor in 1981. Moore and Mayo moved back to the East Coast in 1941. After a brief stay on Gotts Island, the couple moved to New York City. Moore quickly found a job at '' Reader's Digest''. Moore's debut novel, ''The Weir'', was published in 1943. Her story "It Don't Change Much" was published in '' The New Yorker'' in 1945. In 1946, Moore followed her earlier success with her sophomore novel, ''Spoonhandle''. She sold the film rights to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The film, retitled ''Deep Waters'', was filmed on location in

Vinalhaven, Maine Vinalhaven is a town on the larger of the two Fox Islands in Knox County, Maine, United States. Vinalhaven is also used to refer to the island itself. The population was 1,279 at the 2020 census. It is home to a thriving lobster fishery and ...

and released in 1948. The sale of ''Spoonhandle'' gave Moore the financial success she needed to return to Maine. She and Mayo purchased land on the west side of Mount Desert Island and set about building their house. Though the couple traveled extensively, they never again moved away from their beloved Maine. By 1979, Moore had published 13 novels including The Walk Down Main Street (1960), The Sea Flower (1965), and The Gold and Silver Hooks (1969). She also published 3 books of poetry—one of which, Cold as a Dog and the Wind Northeast, was published by folklorist and singer-songwriter Gordon Bok of Camden, Maine. Moore died in nearby Bar Harbor in December 1989.

The regional label

For much of her literary life, Moore resisted being classified as a "regional" author. In a 1980 letter to author Sanford Phippen, she described "regional" as one of only two dirty words — the other being "interview". In the same letter, she stressed her belief that Maine "is a microcosm of everywhere else."''High Clouds Soaring, Storms Driving Low: The Letters of Ruth Moore,'' Sanford Phippen, editor, Blackberry Books, 1993, p. 371. Editor Sven Davisson writes in the introduction to ''Foley Craddock'', " oorewas a regional writer only in the sense that one could call Faulkner regional, in that he wrote of his 'postage stamp of soil.' Both writers had the gift of capturing the universal in the local... A novel about New York City or Chicago is ever and always about New York City or Chicago, while a novel about Maine or Jefferson, Mississippi, in adept hands, could be about any place in the world."''Foley Craddock'', p. xiv.

Assessment of her writing

Though lauded by the reviewers of the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' and '' Saturday Review'', Moore drew mixed reviews from the '' New York Times''. Eventually the ''Times'' quit reviewing her books.. Her book sales came, for the most part, from book clubs and through serialization in magazines. Her book sales diminished appreciably within her lifetime, and Moore was eventually dropped by her publisher. Today her books are re-printed by a small press in Maine, and her books are often sold in Maine book and souvenir shops.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Weir'' (1943) * ''Spoonhandle'' (1946) * ''The Fire Balloon'' (1948) * ''Candlemas Bay'' (1950) * ''Jeb Ellis of Candlemas Bay'' (1952) * ''A Fair Wind Home'' (1953) * ''Speak to the Winds'' (1956) * ''The Walk Down Maine Street'' (1960) * ''Second Growth'' (1962) * ''The Sea Flower'' (1964) * ''The Gold and Silver Hooks'' (1969) * ''"Lizzie" & Caroline'' (1972) * ''Dinosaur Bite'' (1976) * ''Sarah Walked Over the Mountain'' (1979)

Poetry

* ''Cold As a Dog and the Wind Northeast'' (1958) * ''Time's Web: Poems by Ruth Moore'' (1972) * ''The Tired Apple Tree: Poems and Ballads'' (1990)

Collections

* ''High Clouds Soaring, Storms Driving Low: The Letters of Ruth Moore'' (1993) * ''When Foley Craddock Tore Off My Grandfather's Thumb: The Collected Stories of Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo'' (2004)

Short fiction and essays

* “Pennies in the Water,” ''The American Girl'' July 1942 * “The Ladies from Philadelphia,” ''Harper's Bazaar'' August 1945 * “It Don't Change Much,” ''The New Yorker'' October 1945 * “Farmer Takes a Newspaper,” ''The Saturday Review of Literature'' July 1948 * “The First Christmas Spent in the House Ruth Built,” ''Boston Sunday Post'' December 1963 * “The Lonely of Heart,” ''Puckerbrush Review'' 1989 * “How Come You're Picking My Violets,” ''Tuesday Weekly'' * “Some Notes On Clerks of the Works,” ''Bar Harbor Times'' * “St. Columba's Mission,” ''Ashé Journal'' 3(2) Summer 2004