The Legend of Route 88

Why all of this about May Fogg in 2020—can’t we just let her slip back into history?

The indefatigable May Fogg is the inspiration for Lena, the precocious seven-year-old who is the main character in Snowy Owl & the Seven Sailors, a new children’s book published this month by Mile Zero Press.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, my wife, Dr. Nancy Sargent, the Falmouth dentist, and I were privileged to know May Fogg. In fact, May once invited us to her house for tea!

Pouring the Extraordinary

When we met May in her cottage in the waterfront community of Wildwood, off U.S. 88 in Cumberland, the first of my astonishments was that she had a standing light in her living room. No big deal there. Except the shaft of her six-foot standing lamp was a repurposed narwhal tusk. She showed us a fox fur parka that she would later donate to the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin, along with a treasure trove of other arctic items, photos, and documents.

The Connection

She was a patient of Nancy’s and a retired headmaster of a private school in Massachusetts. She was MacMillan’s niece in real life.  In Snowy Owl & the Seven Sailors, Lena is, too. Sometimes seems like the only grownup in the story. That’s May, through and through.

I’ll never forget May telling us that she was on several of her uncle’s famous Arctic expeditions aboard the Bowdoin, and not just as a passenger. She was a trusted member of the crew. “I often was assigned to the helm.”

Lena, the fictional character who carries her spirit, is thoughtful, exacting, like May. The occasion for Lena’s story in Snowy Owl & the Seven Sailors is Lena’s rescue of a wounded Snowy Owl who missed the migration north to the Arctic. Her eureka moment: take him north to the Arctic to rejoin his family!

Meet Arcturus

This really happened for a Snowy Owl. His name was Arcturus, and the wounded bird—shot by a hunter—was brought home to Labrador aboard the Bowdoin during the summer of 1934. The crew fell in love with him. Here’s a sneak peek: “Inspired by a true adventure. Seven Arctic explorers, one Snowy Owl—what else could possibly go wrong? Join Arcturus and his pals Lena, Captain Donald MacMillan, and a crew of friendly research sailors aboard the lovely Schooner Bowdoin in 1934. The wounded snowy owl gets a lift from Portland, Maine, to his Arctic homeland. On the way, everyone learns something new in this children’s story inspired by a true adventure.

Which you were, May. A true adventure. You are the reason for the words “smartly tied” in this passage from the book. Because you wouldn’t have done it any other way.

“Slippers slipped on

And robe smartly tied,

Lena sails out the door

And kneels by his side.

It’s Arcturus, the owl

Who is named for a star!

Not just any star

But the brightest by far.”

Click here to listen to “Bowdoin Beata,”

As Arcturus would say, it’s a hoot.

Click here to purchase the first edition of the book.