Book tells of  bygone farm life

Michael D. Andrew wanted to acquaint his grandchildren and others about life when he grew up in the 1940s and 1950s on a farm in Gorham.

So he wrote a book titled “The Place,” published by AuthorHouse and available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

“It is a story about a sense of place; it is about a home his parents always called “The Place,” a press release in a new marketing campaign said.

“The Place has served its purpose,” Andrew said. “It has grown crops, nurtured animals, provided food and kept families together. It will continue to give me that meaning, joy and beauty as long as I live. I am grateful.”

“Most of this story is from my memory,” Andrew says. “I can’t say how good my memory is, but I am not prone to embellishment. I am not a good storyteller. I am too pragmatic and scientific by nature to make things up in search of a more entertaining story.”

Andrew graduated from Gorham High School and attended Cornell University, where he majored in biology and chemistry.

After four years as a high school science teacher, he completed his doctorate at Harvard University in science education and served as professor of education at the University of New Hampshire for 42 years, earning the Distinguished Professor Award in 2007 and serving as director of teacher education.

He returned to the farm in 1975 and raises Hampshire sheep and Standardbred racehorses.

Historians to meet

Gorham Historical Society will hold its quarterly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 5, in Conference Room A, adjacent to the office of Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak, at Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

The meeting will be an opportunity for residents to meet and greet Paraschak and is open to the public.

U.S. taxpayer debt

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service reported on Feb. 15 that the U.S. public debt was $20,710,203,610,249.74.