Timothy J. Sample (born ) is a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

, famous both for his presentation and his Maine accent. He has sold well over a million copies of his books, albums, and videos, including four albums and a video for the

Bert and I ''Bert & I'' is the name given to numerous collections of humor stories set in the "Down East" culture of traditional Maine. These stories were made famous and mostly written by the humorist storytelling team of Marshall Dodge (1935–1982 ...

company. In the summer of 1993, Sample was recruited by

Charles Kuralt Charles Bishop Kuralt (September 10, 1934 – July 4, 1997) was an American television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. He is most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on '' The CBS Even ...

as a correspondent for the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning TV Show CBS News Sunday Morning. Over the following 11 years, Sample produced over 100 "Postcards from Maine" segments which introduced millions of CBS viewers around the nation and the world to the lifestyles of

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

rs.

Early life

Born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and raised in Boothbay Harbor, Sample and his wife have a home in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The p ...

, and despite the traveling his career calls him to do, he has never lived (or wanted to live) anywhere other than in Maine.

Career

Sample's first album of Downeast humor was recorded in 1979 and produced by

Noel Paul Stookey Noel Paul Stookey (born December 30, 1937) is an American singer-songwriter who was famous for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary; however, he has been known by his first name, Noel, throughout his life. Nowadays, he continues to ...

, "Paul" of

Peter, Paul, and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

. The liner notes for the album were written by humorist

Marshall Dodge Marshall Dodge (1935–1982) was a Maine humorist. Early life Dodge was born in New York City, attended high school in New Hampshire, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy. Career Dodge and his associate, Robert Bryan ...

, who, along with his partner Rev. Robert Bryan, created the world-famous

recordings back in the 1950s. After Marshall Dodge died in 1982, Sample recorded four albums and a video for the Bert and I company. Sample and Bryan have collaborated on a number of projects since, including several TV specials, the popular recording ''How to Talk Yankee'', and the TV specials ''Out of Season'' and ''Maine Humor Behind the Barn''. Sample has also written and illustrated several books, including ''How to Talk Yankee'' and ''Saturday Night at Moody's Diner''. Sample's national TV appearances include

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

and

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

. He has also narrated many films and books on tape, including

Robert McCloskey John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for ...

’s children's classic ''Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man'',

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

’s '' The Sun Dog'' and '' Drunken Fireworks'', and a reconstructed version of the 1930 documentary '' From Stump to Ship''. In August 2006, Tim Sample released his first two DVDs, ''Tim Sample 2006'' and ''Back in the Day''. ''Tim Sample 2006'' was recorded in June 2006 at The Bangor Opera House. ''Back in the Day'' contains digitally remastered footage of Tim's performances from 1983 and 1985. In 2020 Sample appeared in a series of TV, radio and online attack ads funded by

End Citizens United End Citizens United (ECU) is a political action committee in the United States. The organization is working to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court 2010 decision in '' Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission'', which deregulated limits on inde ...

targeting US Senator

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Con ...

.Maine’s ‘humorist laureate’ Tim Sample cuts ad ripping Collins for Big Pharma, Wall Street ties
Dan Neumann, Beacon, Maine People's Alliance, June 17, 2020. Tim@BBOH 2011

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people American humorists People from Fort Fairfield, Maine People from Boothbay Harbor, Maine 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Hebron Academy alumni {{US-comedian-stub