"A Benign Obsession New Directions after the Centennial". Final Acadian Aeathers Cathering, August 22, 2019. A Benign Obsession As Acadia National Park celebrated its 2016 centennial, I traveled throughout New England on a Friends of Acadia book tour. My biography of the Father of the Park was well received and I reveled in the moment, not considering what I would do after the hoopla died. Later I reflected on my options: (1) following two decades of Acadian research and writing I could leave all of it behind-a job well done; (2) I could investigate the wellsprings of Dorr's character through deeper inquiry into his abundantly well documented ancestry; or (3) I could build on my research files and seriously consider a new biography of Charles William Eliot, his landscape architect son, or Mr. Rockefeller-yet each seemed too formidable for a 76 year old. Instead, I returned to my research files to more realistically investigate areas not fully developed in the Dorr biography. Reading belatedly David and Carl Little's Art of Acadia provided me with rich insights and questions that also led me back to my files. On August 5th I spoke of the results of one investigation when the Beatrix Farrand Society hosted its 2019 Seminar Tour. The Garland Farm talk concerned the sixty year relationship between Beatrix and George B. Dorr. I wanted to show how much value Farrand attached to Dorr's park-making enterprise, a challenge since there is no surviving correspondence between the two. Afterwards, guests were taken on a tour of Oldfarm which Maureen Fournier, Ericka Duym, and I led before a closing reception at the Farrand sunken garden at Kenarden. Two weeks earlier I had been in Lenox giving a talk at the Ventfort Hall Museum of the Gilded Age. This built on an October 2018 Lenox Library Association Distinguished Lecture where after tracing the role of the Dorr and Ward families as pioneer Berkshire cottagers in the 1840s, I asked whether this family heritage influenced Dorr's park building on MDI. Berkshire historian Cornelia Gilder partnered with me this July in presenting "Lenox Rusticators on the Maine Coast," which relied heavily on the Oldfarm Guest Book sequestered at the Bar Harbor Historical Society. BHHS Board member and fellow Acadian author Earl Brechlin had helped me in May to scan the entire contents of the Guest Book, which provided dated signatures covering a half century of visits-and interesting photos, poems, musical phrases, illustrations, and other marginalia of prominent men and women. I've been asked to adapt this program for a talk at the Jesup. Earl was most curious about the documented Oldfarm visits of psychical researchers, the best known being the father of American psychology, Harvard philosopher William James. He asked me to write an article for the FOA Journal on Oldfarm as a center for research into spiritualistic claims, just published. Earl is also to be credited with creatively taking the 'Other Side' of Dorr theme and developing a brief program at the Kedge on the 75th anniversary of Dorr's death (9/5/19). Enlisting the help of an actor attired in "Dorrish" garb, Earl videotaped a series of afterlife questions which were answered by "Dorr" projected from his smart phone through a series of reflective lenses. An audience of three dozen was entertained by this playful theater of the occult. I have a couple of irons in the fire for the year ahead. One is providing editorial input into the Acadia National Park administrative history being researched and written by recently retired park rangers, Charlie Jacobi and Judy Hazen Connery. Yet I am at a crossroads. Despite requests from publishers, museums, historical societies and libraries to develop programs, the challenges of travel and waning energy levels-as one ages-- cannot be ignored. Partnering with others is not only a joy but also a way to address this issue. I much look forward to reading about the activities of fellow Acadian authors. Perhaps additional opportunities for collaboration will arise. As they say, one day at a time. Ronald H. Epp August 22, 2019 . Residence of Judith S. goldstein Somesville, ME Final gathering of Acadian Authors, estable's had by AcadianAuthors81 Jack Rossell three years earlier?