Ogunquit, Maine is a vacation beach town. In 1947, it was both salve and inspiration for Emilie Loring. Her husband, Victor, had died in February, and when summer came, she didn’t have the heart to go back to an empty Stone House in Blue Hill.
But the call of Maine was still strong.
“Could she do it? She could and would for the present. Suppose something exciting happened? Hadn’t she told Judge Grimes that she was off for adventure? Nothing to prevent her moving to one of the resort hotels when there was a vacancy.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
“She chose the Lookout Hotel at Ogunquit, Maine. It was vacation season, and the town was a paradise for vacationers who liked the sea. ‘They were sprinkled over boardhinghouse lawns, perched on boardinghouse rails, crowded the street in every variety of sports clothing.'” (Happy Landings: Emilie Loring’s Life, Writing, and Wisdom
Lookout Hotel
“Emilie walked through the hotel garden, still looking for inspiration, when another guest challenged, ‘What can a writer find to write about here?’ Emilie replied, ‘Can’t a writer get a story wherever there is human nature?’ And off she went to prove it.” (Happy Landings)
Marginal Way
Chief among Ogunquit’s attractions was the Marginal Way, a mile-long walk along the prominent cliff between Ogunquit Beach and Perkins Cove. The latter was sprinkled then, as now, with art galleries and studios.
“Emilie attended the Ogunquit Playhouse and made mental notes for her new story. Small galleries in the art colony at Perkins Cove suggested her character’s position as a sales assistant for a small gallery. With a missing painting and a handsome but unwanted guardian, her story was ready to take off.” (Happy Landings)
I Hear Adventure Calling Today
Two weeks ago, I exited the interstate at Ogunquit. How much of 1947’s Ogunquit could I find?
So few of the grand hotels still exist, but luckily, the Lookout Hotel remains, albeit in a new form. It was transformed to condominiums in 1977, but its distinctive entrance portico remains, and the “Lookout” sign mimics the original sign’s lettering.
Knowing her location let me see how the elements of I Hear Adventure Calling came together.
The road in front of the Lookout extends all the way to the Marginal Way, near the Lobster Point Lighthouse.
“The rocky promontory on which the light perched sheered off in a treacherous ledge. Twice in college vacations he and his boat had been left high and dry on it for hours.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
From there, Emilie could walk leftward, toward Ogunquit village and the beach or rightward, toward Perkins Cove.
Emilie Loring’s 1947 Summer Inspiration
As I walked toward Perkins Cove at the end of the Marginal Way, recognition signals began to tingle.
“Her sandals had not been designed for a trek like the present, Fran decided when they reached the rocks which jutted into the sea in a point, making a lovely cove on each side. She wasn’t walking, she was toddling. She was aware of Jaffray’s hand ready to steady her if she toppled but he did not touch her arm. She dropped to the broad, flat boulder. Thank goodness she had made it.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
Art Colony
In Emilie’s time, an art school and gallery sat at the juncture of the Marginal Way and Perkins Cove. Barnacle Billy’s restaurant is there now.
“Gene Sargent’s father is the owner of the famous Sargent Galleries in New York City. He has a Gallery in the town on the coast of Maine where the family spends the summer. It is his pet and pride, Gene calls it Sargent Gallery, Jr. Paintings famous and not so famous, objets d’art, some of fabulous value, are on view and on sale. It’s a Mecca for summer residents for miles away. He needs an assistant. I’m taking the job. I hear adventure calling.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
Barnacle Billy’s restaurant
The idea of Sargent’s Gallery may well have been inspired by Charles H. Woodbury (1864-1940), a Massachusetts painter who is considered the founder of the Ogunquit Art Colony. The Lorings knew Woodbury, who, like Victor, belonged to the Boston Art Club.
Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine by Charles Herbert Woodbury
Woodbury maintained a house, a studio, and an art school in Perkins Cove that began in the 1890s and continued after his death in 1940. I especially like Woodbury’s advice to “Paint in verbs, not nouns.”
Today’s Ogunquit Museum of American Art sits on land formerly belonging to Woodbury, but it didn’t open until 1953.
When Emilie summered in Ogunquit, the Barn Gallery on Shore Road was the headquarters of the Obunquit Art Association. Today’s Barn Gallery still shows the work of local artists but at a different location under different auspices.
Ogunquit Playhouse
Lillian Gish starred that August in “The Marquise” at the Ogunquit Playhouse, and Emilie’s visit there made its way into the story.
“The play was well written, well acted and staged with professional skill, but the wooden building of
the summer theater was unbearably hot…
Lillian Gish, 1947
“Outside the theater she waited for a chance to cross to the highway. Car after car drew up, filled with laughing passengers and drove away. The gay comedy had left the audience refreshed and rested, its problems pushed into the background. Brightly painted taxis and shabby taxis crowded shining touring cars and luxurious limousines toward the waiting crowd. Symphony afternoon at home had nothing on this for the variety and number of automobiles that had come from miles up and down the coast.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
Ogunquit Playhouse in Emilie’s time
Ogunquit Playhouse today
On to her next chapter
As her new novel took shape, Emilie thought often of Victor, who was both an attorney and a Justice of the Peace.
“Her heart zoomed and grounded and resumed its beat. Why be scared? Wasn’t this adventure, adventure in capital letters? What a story she would write to His Honor if ever she got out of this mix-up.”
“When fall comes I will have a brand-new outlook, will have recovered my sense of direction, will know what I want to do with my life.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
It was true. Summer in Ogunquit produced another new novel. Emilie had made it through her first summer without Victor.
Even so…
“It looked as if an evening of dining and dancing might turn into a breath-snatching adventure. Adventure? Too bad Judge Grimes was not here.” (I Hear Adventure Calling)
