Now that we've gotten some people that could be our "mystery portrait" it's time to dig deeper. Lets look more closely at our candidates and our unknown man to look at their individual features. More after the read more!

A patron has given us another name that may possibly be 'the man in the photograph' that hangs in our library.

They write: "Is it Thos B. Reed? He is hanging in the Moultonborough country store"

Thomas B. Reed was a representative of Maine from 1889-91 & 1895-1899.


Here is the list of possibles we have so far as well as information for those just "tuning in."

What do you think? A reminder of what the portrait hanging in the Meredith Library looks like:

Linda Finno is our new Artist of the Month gracing our art wall with beautiful artwork.

Artist Biography, in her own words:

"After the sudden death of my husband Bill in 2011, I needed an outlet to get me out of my depression – so a year later I started oil painting to release some of my anger and frustrations! It has been a Godsend along with the loving care and urging of my two adult sons and the painting community. I currently paint as Bleu Waves Gallery in Meredith with Carole Keller. It has brought me much happiness and I love seeing the glee it brings to all.
 
Mostly, I know Bill is proud and happy I am following this path."

Linda is a member of the Lakes Region Art Society and a Meredith resident!

Photos after the Read More!

I found this book on a best of 2015 SF & Fantasy reads list. What caught my attention about it first was the very unique and somewhat “crazy” premise:

“Wasp's job is simple. Hunt ghosts. And every year she has to fight to remain Archivist. Desperate and alone, she strikes a bargain with the ghost of a supersoldier. She will go with him on his underworld hunt for the long-long ghost of his partner and in exchange she will find out more about his pre-apocalyptic world than any Archivist before her. And there is much to know. After all, Archivists are marked from birth to do the holy work of a goddess. They're chosen. They're special. Or so they've been told for four hundred years.

Archivist Wasp fears she is not the chosen one, that she won't survive the trip to the underworld that the brutal life she has escaped might be better than where she is going. There is only one way to find out.” Plot overview from Amazon.com

A futuristic post-apocalyptic ghost hunting book? Sign me up!

Ross Poldark: a novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787 by Winston Graham

Captain Ross Poldark returns home to Cornwall after healing from injuries sustained while fighting in the American Revolutionary War only to find his home in ruins, his family fortune gone and the woman he loves betrothed to another.

I listened to this book on a recommendation from a library patron who was very enthusiastic about it. At first I had a hard time getting into it, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it is an excellent work of historical fiction. It's the first in a series of twelve books that follows the Poldark family in Cornwall, England from 1783 to 1820. The first was written in 1945, so there isn't a lot of action, plot twisting or bodice-ripping going on. But, it paints a vivid picture of life in that time period with strong character development.  For fans of generational family sagas.  If you like John Jakes or Jeffrey Archer, you will likely enjoy this series.


We have this novel in print and on CD and we also have the first season of the Poldark series on DVD.

-Erin Apostolos

We've already gotten a few candidates as to who our "Mystery Man" may be and it's time to size them up.

Our list thus far is as follows:
1. Bainbridge Wadleigh: A US Senator from New Hampshire who lived from 1831-1891. He was born in Bradford, NH and a Lilian Wadleigh worked at the Meredith Public Library for a time. 
2. H.H. Holmes (aka Herman Webster Mudgett): A notorious serial killer born in Gilmanton, NH. Best known for his crimes in Chicago during the World's Fair as written about in Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City (with an upcoming movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the infamous man himself!).
3. Daniel Burnham: Architect associated with the World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago. The same World's Fair where H.H. Holmes wreaked his havoc.

Could any of these personages be our man? They all certainly have the mustache for it. What do you think? We need your detective skills! Feel free to submit more photos, information, anecdotes, etc for comparison of any of these "suspects" in our mystery. Don't think it's any of these men: feel free to tell us who you think it is!