In NEW MAINERS, author Pat Nyhan explore who these new Mainers are and why have they come to Maine. They are from war—torn countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Cambodia; from poor Latin American nations; and from economically vibrant places like Hong Kong, India, and Europe?in other words, from across the global spectrum. They came to Maine for a job or to reunite with their family or because they fell in love or to attend college here or to flee persecution in their homelands. Although the twenty—five immigrants who tell their stories had widely varying reasons for coming to Maine, many have made remarkable contributions to the state.
Photographer Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest is a Dutch national who moved to Maine from the Netherlands in 1970. His work has been widely shown in solo, group, and juried exhibits in the U.S and Holland. He has published three books of photography: San Miguel de Allende, a photographic essay; Portland, Maine, in Black and White; and Flesh and Stone. He started in photography in the early 1970s after taking courses at the Portland School of Art, now the Maine College of Art. He also had a long career as a transportation and logistics executive.
Pat Nyhan wrote the text for this book. She is a former journalist with the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and Maine Times who teaches English as a Second Language to immigrants. She has worked for Human Rights Watch on African issues, taught English in Afghanistan in the Peace Corps, and taught media studies at the University of Southern Maine. The author of Zigzag: A Working Woman's Life in Changing Times and Let the Good Times Roll! A Guide to Cajun & Zydeco Music, Pat has lived in Maine for almost thirty years.
Reza Jalali, who wrote the book's foreword, is a writer and community organizer. Originally from Iran, he has lived in Maine for over two decades. A refugee and human—rights advocate who has visited many refugee camps, he speaks nationally on Islam, the Middle East, and refugee and human—rights issues, and leads workshops on cultural diversity. Jalali, who holds an MFA, teaches at the University of Southern Maine, where he also manages the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.
"…Told in a series of 25 profiles, the book presents a diverse and enterprising mix of people who span five continents and countless walks of life. How these immigrants came here, what they left behind, and the lives they've built are the focus of this complex anthology…a provocative and unsettling book for the very reasons that immigration is such a difficult issue. Although the stories center on the experience of 25 individuals, they reflect, to some degree, on all of us…it strips the theoretical veil from the immigration debate and gives it two dozen human faces." —Working Waterfront, June 2009
"…allows 25 immigrants to Maine to tell about their unique experiences moving to this state…. Not surprisingly, immigrants have made significant contributions to the state in the areas of medicine, engineering, academia, law, public school education, hotel management and social services…. How we
arrived in this country varies from individual to individual. But, we are, nonetheless, bound to our future as a whole community." —Maine Sunday Telegram, June 21, 2009
"Every saga, as Nyhan has recounted it, packs a wallop and genuine eye opener for those of us who usually see only the next stop along the way….not a book you will pick up and read at one sitting. I found the stories to be so revealing and sometimes sad that I could only read one at a time…. The personal stories are what make this book a much—needed education about where Maine fits into the global agenda…. It's new and it's startling, and I believe that reading it is certain to enrich a reader's interest in the greater world and all it has to offer." —Capital Weekly, April 27, 2009
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