“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt
Bob Barker had the good fortune to be born in Castine Maine and live the first twelve years of his life in a small village on Penobscot Bay called Harborside. The author’s curious mind and adventurous spirit comes alive in the stories he tells. There were so many unique real life experiences that his friends often said “You should write a book”, and so he did. This is it. There is a poignant story of bonding with seagulls he raised from tiny chicks when he was a boy. There is a humorous tale about fishing for a rifle at the bottom of a cesspool and how it got there in the first place. Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight has Vignettes about Castine, the Cape folks of Brooksville, and the author’s loss of innocence.
Growing up an only child in a remote setting led to an independent self-reliant style that carried Barker on a whirlwind journey through life.
He is enjoying retirement now with his lovely wife Heilwig. The pair met while rock climbing at “the Gunks” in New Palz, NY. They sail every year out of Camden harbor on the schooner Mary Day.
Barker often said there were four things he would like to do in life: jump out of an airplane in flight, travel to the end of the world, write a book and ride an elephant. Three out of four is not bad, and there is still time to ride an elephant.
Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight 