10,000 Magazines: UMaine Today

10,000 Magazines, #9,999
UMaine Today,  December, 2001

This magazine is cool  because it's  not highly circulated.  It's the alumni magazine for the University of Maine.

The article by King is titled, "Reflections of a campus activist." The prologue discusses King's tenure as a student at The University of Maine, and a special October 3 (2001) panel he participated in.  The reason for the focus was the publication of King's novel (novel's) hearts in Atlantis.

The article isn't by King so much as it is quotes from his discussion on the panel.

King discussed the protest and his involvement.  The first protest he remembers is a boycott of grapes sold at supermarkets in the Bangor area.  From there, he relates that he became part of the anti-war movement.

King said, "When I came on campus in 1966, I lived in Gannett Hall and my roommate was Harold Crosby of Whiting, Maine.  he knew what he wanted to do (become a dentist),he did it and is doing it today.  Harold is in Harts in Atlantis.  By January 1967, he had decided that we were wrong to be in Vietnam.  To this day, I am mad that Harold beat me to that realization."

King also relates that "There was a tremendous amount of excitement about being involved with the anti-war protests."

I liked this discussion about a visit home form college:

"I came home from college and one of my aunts from Massachusetts was up visiting.  I was in the kitchen and my mother and aunt were in the living room.  I heard my aunt say to my mother, 'Why don't you tell him to cut his hair or get the hell  out?  he looks like a girl and he's talking all this stuff about the government.' My mother said, 'I don't agree with him but he's doing what he believes is right, and he's now old enough to think for himself.'  My eyes filled with tears and I had to leave the room.  I didn't want her to know I had over heard that and she never spoke of it again." 

My mother died of cancer in1974. In late 1973when it was clear that she was never going to get better, she was in bed and she grabbed me and pulled me down and said, 'I want to tell you something before I go.  You have to promise not to tell your bother.' I said OK, and she said, 'I voted  for McGovern."

King reflected that looking back, he's not always a big fan of his generation.  "I think the impact of the activism can be overrated."  He notes that a lot of people who were  young and involved in activism later became Reagan voters.  He feels his generation quit a little too early, that they could have (and should have) pushed for more.

In a sidebar, there is a description of Hearts in Atlantis.  It says:

Every year for the past decade, a class book has united  University of Maine students and faculty in a common dialogue about literature and contemporary issues.

This year's class book has done that and much more.  The book, Hearts in Atlantis, is written by UMaine alumnus, Stephen King.  It is composed of three short  stories and two novellas, one of which relates the experiences of a first year student at The University of Maine in 1966. 

Hearts in Atlantis, a movie starring Anthony Hopkins that is based on King's book, was released early this fall. 

Some of the issues raised in the book assumed even greater importance for the readers following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks  on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Students are drawing parallels between their reactions to the terrorist threats and how the college age characters in King's book cope with the Vietnam War.  

Hearts in Atlantis is a teaching tool in a number of UMaine classes this academic year, including the English course "The Class Book: Stephen King and the 1960's," in which students study the Vietnam War era and how it subsequently shaped America. 

This is the 10th year UMaine has incorporated a class book into its curricula. 

For many years, the class book was required reading by first year students in English 101 classes.  Topics raised by the volumes were the focus of campus lectures and panel discussions.  In recent years, UMaine's Division of Lifelong Learning has offered non-credit discussion classes and Web-based courses focused on the class book. 

UMaine's first class book was Hen's Teeth and Horses Toes, by Stephen Jay Gould.  All but one of the class book authors have come to campus to lecture, effectively linking the writers with their readers.