Rebecca Roach’s inner beauty was always apparent to those who loved her. But her outer beauty started to become a larger part of her life only when she tried to use it to help others. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, Roach agreed to appear in newspaper ads and TV commercials for the […]
Ray Routhier
Staff Writer
Ray Routhier has written about pop culture, movies, TV, music and lifestyle trends for the Portland Press Herald since 1993. He is continually fascinated with stories that show the unique character of Maine’s people and places. He’s written about why so many businesses use the made-up word “Mainely” in their names, how you can trace Portland’s history through its various smells and why Mainers lament the loss of Portland-made B&M baked beans. He’s interviewed a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, musicians and authors, including Patrick Dempsey, Tony Shalhoub, Richard Russo, Tess Gerritsen, Tony Bennett, Anna Kendrick, and Stephen King. His passions, besides writing, include baseball history, old movies and “Jeopardy!” A native of Manchester, New Hampshire, he graduated with a degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire. He lives in South Portland with his wife and two children.
Posted inNews
Candidates spar in second Great Debate
The gubernatorial hopefuls attack each other over the attacks they’ve launched during the campaign.
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Posted inLife & Culture, News
Festival adds extra inspiration
A former camper at Camp Sunshine, Zach Pomerleau returns with a high school blues band to play a set.
Posted inLife & Culture
Music and Nightlife: Band of brothers (and fathers)
Twenty-three years together, the guys and dads of Blues Traveler are still jamming, having learned how to schedule their touring around children’s birthdays and the like.
Posted inLife & Culture
Maine at Work: At David’s restaurant,a server has a lot on his plate
I knew right away that many of the physical tasks of waiting tables were going to be beyond me.
Like when Michael Farrell — the waiter I was shadowing at David’s restaurant in Monument Square last week — asked me to get three drinks for a table of five ladies having lunch.
I put the three pint glasses (two iced teas and a soda) on a tray and began carrying it with two hands. Farrell offered that he carried drink trays with one hand under the center, so he could serve with the other hand. I tried this, and the tray wobbled, so I grabbed it with the other hand. Then I tried one hand again, and almost lost all three drinks.
Posted inUncategorized
You light up my fright
Halloween, in pop-culture terms, is the new Christmas.
Posted inLife & Culture
Music and Nightlife: All dolled up
Robby Takac can relate to the excitement being created in Portland by the historic and newly renovated State Theatre.
Takac and his bandmates in Goo Goo Dolls are from gritty Buffalo, N.Y., and have their own recording studio there. It’s located in an historic building that was once the chapel of a private girls’ school. They recently renovated it into a state-of-the-art recording space.
Posted inLife & Culture
Maine at Work: Aye, there’s the rub: No pain is gain for clients after massage therapy
Walter Selens was standing in the lobby of his massage therapy practice on Forest Avenue, explaining that his main focus is on using massage to help people get a wider range of motion or relief from pain.
What he does most of the time, he told me, does not fit in with the popular image of massages given to stressed-out executives on vacation at a spa. It’s more like physical therapy, but without weights and machines.
Posted inLife & Culture
First up, this Friday: My Morning Jacket
Rock fans love fanciful stories about how bands got together, or how they got their names. So it’s no wonder that if you search for My Morning Jacket online, you’ll see lots of mentions of how the members found a jacket at the scene of a fire, and the initials MMJ were on it. “Yeah, […]
Posted inLife & Culture
Music and Nightlife: It’s a Date
More than a year ago, as the ornate State Theatre sat dormant, Rob Derhak made a request to his manager.
“I told him that if they re-open the State, I’d really like for us to do the opening night,” said Derhak, bassist for the band moe. and a 13-year Falmouth resident. “It’s a no-brainer for us. We recorded an album there (“The Conch”), and the vibe of that room is really good; it’s a little bit loose and the crowd is always pumped.”