"MAE is a most beautifully and compellingly written, heart-breaking, life-and-love-affirming tale all at once. I read it in one sitting I was so unable to put it down. This is creative nonfiction at its finest." -Acclaimed novelist Sophie Powell A tale of love, challenges, determination and faith, MAE chronicles the life of L.Mae Martin, whose journey starts on her family's farm in Scituate, Rhode Island, a small New England town, during the depression. A strong willed girl whose favorite motto is "It's a great life if you don't weaken," Mae faces a myriad of obstacles in her life from both strange and overbearing relatives to friends who encourage and help her on her way to her dream of becoming a teacher and mother. Though she always keeps a positive attitude, she must make her way through a maze of tragic and challenging events and experiences which she encounters along the way. Regardless, she refuses to give in or give up on her dreams. MAE is a story about a strong woman with a zest for life who fights for what she believes in to the very end. She is a shining example of family values and virtues for modern day women. Dick Martin is an award winning writer whose feature stories and columns have appeared in a number of magazines and newspapers including Your Smithfield Magazine, The Woonsocket Call, The Providence Journal, Providence Magazine, and The Observer, among other venues. Martin, who grew up on a small farm in Glocester, Rhode Island, based the story of Mae on his own mother, who kept diaries growing up on the family farm in Scituate, Rhode Island. Tales were a common pastime for the family, whose strong Irish heritage is evident in the stories which fill the pages of MAE. It is a book which is both humorous and sad as it winds through the path of Mae's long life, a life of fulfillment, promise, and hope, but most of all, love.