Sage Lecture Series   

Each fall and spring, SAGE presents a series of Tuesday morning lectures that cover a wide array of topics of current interest.  Our speakers are recognized experts for the arts, government, non-profit, education, business, and civic communities in Maine.

SEBASTIAN BELLE
Executive Director, Maine Aquaculture Association

Learn about the current impact of the aquaculture industry on Maine’s economy and working waterfront as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead.

MATT BLAZEK
Interim Executive Director, Maine’s First Ship

Explore the history of the Sagadahoc region, the story of the 1607 Popham Colony, and the adventures of Maine’s First Ship. Learn about how they are using their pinnace Virginia to educate on the region’s early history.

RON ROMANO
Author & leading researcher of Maine’s 19th Century Gravestones

Ron will show how gravestones from the 1800s were inscribed and decorated with symbols to memorialize those who died before their time, and he’ll share stories of Mainers whose lives were cut short by lightning, shipwreck, disease... evenmurder. Copies of his new book will beavailable for autographing and sale.

PEGGY GRODINSKI
Food Editor, Press Herald

Peggy will talk about the impact of thepandemic on the restaurant and foodscene in Portland, the challenges facedby restaurant owners today, and how Portland became nationally known as a“food destination.” She will also sharehow James Beard winners are selected,and what it is like being a food editor.

TIM BROSNIHAN
Executive Director, Victoria Mansion

The Victorian era was a time of great architectural creativity. This lecture will explore the range of styles popular in Maine during this period with a special emphasis on Victoria Mansion, the state’s ultimate “Victorian” house.

SUSAN THORNTON
Retired Senior U.S. Diplomat

Susan A.Thornton, a retired senior U.S. diplomat with the U.S. State Department in Eurasia and East Asia, shares her expertise of 30 years experience in the Department of State.

JONATHAN MONRO
Trustee & Secretary, Western Cemetery, Inc.

Why is the cemetery of local and national significance? What does it tell us about U.S. history? Why has it suffered such destruction in the city’s richest neighborhood? How has the cemetery changed in the past five years?

GIBSON FAY-LeBLANC,
Poet & Executive Director, Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance

Poems can teach us how to pay better attention to ourselves, to our language, and to the people and world around us. In reading or writing them, poems can help us grieve and rejoice and laugh and express our moments of clarity and confusion.