Islandport Notebook: Watch video of John McDonald and Rebecca Rule Interviews

Whew! It has been an exciting and exhausting couple of weeks here at Islandport (with no end in sight!). Last week, we officially released John Ford's Suddenly, The Cider Didn't Taste So Good to rave reviews. Already, John has spoken at two great events in Unity, while Michelle and Carole have been packing and shipping like mad to meet demand. John is an excellent and engaging (not to mention funny) speaker, as a result it seems we are adding to his appearance schedule daily. We will post a complete list of John's summer appearances soonest. Meanwhile, if you live within the signal area of WVOM: The Voice of Maine, John is the featured guest on The Maine Outdoors with V. Paul Reynolds this Sunday from 7 to 8 p.m. ... Also, this week, we began shipping copies of the brand-spanking new book, John McDonald's Maine Trivia. John was the featured speaker at the Portland Public Library's Brown Bag Lecture Series on Wednesday and was a guest on the WCSH-TV talk show 207 on Tuesday. You can watch John's interview here. John McDonald (right) will also make the rounds in Maine this summer (including, we hear tell, his debut performance at the Yarmouth Clam Festival!). We will post his schedule soon as well. ... Speaking of appearances, Rebecca Rule (Live Free and Eat Pie!, Headin' for the Rhubarb!) was the featured guest on the New Hampshire Public Television show, New Hampshire Authors, last night. The tremendously talented and tremendously nice Becky is usually the host of that interview show, but the tables were turned for last night's episode, which was hosted by Marie Harris. You can watch the interview here or in the video player below. ... The bookstore Left Bank Books has announced that it is leaving Searsport to open in a bigger location in Belfast. We wish them good luck. The Bangor Daily News ran a story that mentioned how Belfast hopes to become a "city of books." Belfast has come a long way from its chicken processing days. ... This Monday, there will be a roundtable discussion at Portland's Holiday Inn by the Bay called "The Future of Maine Newspapers: The Intersection of Business & Media." Panelists include Tom Bell, a Portland Press Herald reporter and President of the Portland Newspaper Guild and Anthony Ronzio, New Media Director for the Sun Media Group. Ronzio is a Syracuse University alumnus (sorry, can't help myself). ... And, for heaven's sake, rain be gone! ~ dll