​

The themes of Mister Man are as relevant today as they were in the late 1940s and early 50s:  PTSD, child abandonment, spousal sexual abuse, extramarital affairs and violence. Except - back then, there were no labels - just secrets.  It was the way life was - as jagged, deep, cold and unforgiving as the Maine coast.  

​

Thelma is a young woman with an earthy sensuality and toughness that hides her emotional scars.  She has grown up in the shadows of filthy and putrid smelling paper mills of northern Maine. Her painful, impoverished and violent upbringing  lead her to Bangor and its local bars at night. She meets a young man, they fall in love and then one day - he’s out the door  -promising to return. Carroll leaves her alone and pregnant.

​

Inspired by true events from the writer’s childhood, the story starts out in Bangor - a center for forestry and fishing. It was a microcosm of civilization - beautiful Victorian homes built by lumber and shipping magnates, a picturesque town center dotted with church steeples next to the Penobscot River with a large population of working class poor hoping to make a living after World War II. 

​

Bangor was a place where Thelma thought she could make a better life for herself and her son, Dana. Thelma longs to meet a man who would love them and care for them. She loves Dana, but Thelma’s need to feel complete as a woman - with a husband, home and family are stronger.  It is a minor temporary sacrifice for the ultimate goal. Dana’s presence in her life is a great disadvantage and he’s better off in the orphanage until she finds a husband. Thelma is fiercely independent but emotionally damaged and tired of the struggle. She is a survivor. She puts on her game face. 

 

"THELMA...is fetchingly dressed like a saluter to the troops - a volunteer USO chatter upper and dancing partner to Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coasties, and Merchant Mariners passing through Bangor returning to civilian life after the war. We hear the clacking of her Woolworth’s high heels on the walkway and the squeaky trike careening up behind her. Her padded shoulders hunch defensively, her nylon stocking seams sag crookedly. . ."

 

Dana longs to know his father.

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thelma abandons Dana at the Bangor orphanage and finds Milford at the USO.  Milford is a decorated marine corporal with a missing leg, but a “ticking time bomb” of uncontrollable rage and horrible nightmares. They fall in love. Thelma becomes pregnant and Milford marries her. They stop at the orphanage months later to retrieve Dana and head to the rugged Downeast coast to Milford’s family home -their new home.  Set in the little fishing port of Lubec, during the late 1940s to early 1950s and located at the eastern most point of the continental United States - the drive from Bangor to Lubec leads us through thousands of acres of forest, wild blueberry barrens and a rocky unending coast that kisses the Canadian border. 

​

Milford’s family home - derelict and unused for years is situated in a cove where Milford’s old fishing trawler was dry-docked for the duration of the war.  They set to work, making it a proper place to raise a family. There is some happiness as long as everyone follows Milford’s rules. Milford is determined to make a man out of Dana and an obedient housewife out of Thelma.  Dana has no references to manly things. He has only known his mother and the orphanage since birth. Dana is also a survivor. Their new addition, Dorothy, is Milford’s pride and joy. She is Milford’s flesh and blood. Dana is not.

 

Enter, Carroll - the antithesis of Milford, in every way. He has a pack of Lucky Strikes tucked in his T-shirt sleeve, a voluptuous mermaid swinging on a navy anchor with USMM tattooed on his tanned bicep.  

 

"First impression: We note the iconic profile of a long haul truck driver - a true king of the road, an anchorless, fun loving rascal you would never trust with your money or your sister (but would fall immediately in love with him); a regular honky tonk  honey."

 

Carroll and Milford coincidentally meet in town. Milford needs a mechanic for his boat and insists on Carroll coming out to his house to break bread with his family and repair the boat.  Upon entering the kitchen, Thelma turns around and locks eyes with Carroll - the love of her life and Dana’s father. They try to keep it secret, but it begins to tragically unravel. Thelma and Carroll’s passion, Milford’s growing anger, suspicions and uncontrollable rage, and young Dana’s innate desire to protect his mother and sister create a violent moment of no return. 

​