Author Douglas Rooks

Maine author and journalist Douglas Rooks will read from his new book, Rise, Decline and Renewal: The Democratic Party in Maine, just published by Hamilton Books.

Rise, Decline and Renewal tells the remarkable story of the Maine Democratic Party – how it suddenly rose from irrelevance in 1954 with the election of Governor Ed Muskie, successfully challenged the ruling Republican Party over the next two decades, and initiated a creative period of wide-ranging reforms that produced a model government for a state long perceived as a cultural and economic backwater.

While Rise, Decline and Renewal focuses primarily on the evolution of the Democratic Party, it makes a strong case that only a vigorous two-party system, based on competition rather than endless conflict, can restore Maine’s state government to health.

Rooks is also the author of Statesman: George Mitchell and the Art of the Possible (Downeast Books, 2016.) Signed copies of both books will be available following questions and discussion.