Fishermen, Music and Film to be Featured at Maine Fishermen’s Forum Scholarship Fundraiser



A night of music, film and spoken word to benefit the Maine Fishermen’s Forum Scholarship fund will take place on the University of Maine campus in Orono on September 22. The program features the Randy Olsen film “Salt of the Earth”.

The local bluegrass band Blue Northern will open the program. Salt of the Earth was filmed in Stonington, Maine in 2001 and features the stars of the film, Brian and Stevie Robbins, along with their late father talking about lobster fishing, telling stories, images of coastal life, and heartwarming stories about a Maine coast fishing family.

Olsen will be there to answer questions and talk about the film. Following the film there will be a spoken word, question and answer session. Musicians Brian and Stevie Robbins will also be playing music.

At the time of the film’s production Olson was still a professor of marine biology at the University of New Hampshire. That was before he moved to Hollywood, attended the University of Southern California Cinema School, made a series of award winning films that have premiered at film festivals from Tribeca to Telluride. He encapsulated the entire experience last year in his book, “Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style,” published by Island Press.

Wednesday’s highlight, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Collins Center, will be a 20th anniversary screening of “Salt of the Earth,” with Olson and the Robbins brothers scheduled to engage in a post-film discussion about the film and the lobstering industry.

Maine Sea Grant is helping to sponsor the event along with the University of Maine. Tickets for the event are $10 and all proceeds will go to the scholarship fund. The Collins Center is near the center of the Orono campus. Tickets and a map of the campus are available at www.collinscenterforthearts.com Tickets are also available at 207-581-1755 or 1-800-MCA-TIXX and at the door.