Greatest Mountain: Katahdin's Wilderness

Nearly thirty years ago, Connie Baxter Marlow created a book
of photographs that presented Percival Proctor Baxter's vision
of a solution to the man/wilderness dichotomy. In the establishment of Baxter
State Park, Percy Baxter created a way for man and wilderness to enrich each
other in a mutually beneficial way. Her book celebrated the magnificence of
Katahdin and its surrounding 200,000 acres, which her Great Uncle Percy had
given to the people of Maine.

Connie Baxter Marlow has revisited Baxter State Park, both with this revised
edition of her book of stunning photographs and in her thinking about Katahdin,
her Uncle Percy's philanthropy, and the Native American connection to
their sacred mountain. the park itself remains relatively unchanged,
in delicate balance between the deeds of trust that were intended to keep it
"forever wild as a public park," and the pressures of modern-day recreation.
In new contributions to the book, Neil Rolde, Judith and John Hakola,
and Park director Buzz Caverly place Percy Baxter's legacy in historical
and contemporary context, while Percy Baxter's own words remain to convey his
thoughts and wishes.

Penobscot Elder Arnie Neptune and documentary writer Dennis
Kostyk bring in the Native American worldview that broadens and adds
depth to the Western view of man's connection to the natural world. In a growing
understanding of Native American beliefs, Marlow now suggests a fresh outlook
to her readers: In times of great change, when the future is unknown,
a new point of view can perhaps serve to lift one's thinking above the clouds,
where a clear mind and an open heart will see and feel a world it never knew
was there.

"Katahdin raises its head aloft, unafraid of the passing storm, and is
typical of the rugged character of the people of Maine. The establishment of
Baxter State Park will lay the foundation of a policy whereby the present generation
will deliver a great inheritance to the generations to come." (PPB, 1921)

Connie Baxter Marlow was raised in Pittsfield, Maine, and after attending Dana
Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Wheaton College, graduated from
the University of California at Berkeley in 1968 with honors in Economics. Connie's
family history of public service and philanthropy has significantly shaped her
worldview, and in 1991, she founded Friends of Earth People, a foundation dedicated
to creating forums for the dissemination of Native American knowledge with the
intent of discovering important information that she believes is lacking in
the dominant belief systems today. She also co-founded Parents for Choice in
Education, which pioneered work on a paradigm-shifting model called "The
Aspen Model." Connie, a writer in her spare time is the mother of three
children and divides her time between Colorado, California, Mexico, Arizona
and Maine.