Dispatches from Maine

For half a century, Gould's weekly column in the Christian Science Monitor has had a devoted national following. This collection ranges from his tales of his children as toddlers to those of his granddaughters playing field hockey on opposing college teams. A 1959 dispatch frets about the loss of a three-tined kitchen fork; the piece is followed by a remarkable response--which included dozens of forks--from Gould's readers. The subject of one 1987 column is his mother's 100th birthday, when she took her first ride on a fire engine. Gould reminisces about winter camping, railway postal clerks and Maine strawberry festivals. He purveys a special brand of Down-East wit, whimsy and nostalgia. (May)