Helen Hamlin

Helen Hamlin (1917–2004) was an American author who is known for her two books on life in northern Maine.

Biography Helen Austin Leidy was born in Fort Kent, Maine and grew up in Aroostook County, Maine. Her father and grandfather were Maine fish and game wardens. She met her first husband Willis ('Curly') Hamlin, also a game warden, at a dance while she was teaching at Churchill Lake. The book became a best seller in 1945 and was reprinted in 1973 and 2005. The book also became the basis for later discussions about living in the Maine woods. Hamlin's second book was about tales from Aroostook county and the news covered the process she used to gather information for this book. The book was titled Pine, Potatoes, and People and was published in 1948.

In 1947 she married Robert Lennon, who worked at the United States' Department of Fish and Wildlife. She moved to Michigan in the 1950s, where she painted portraits that appeared in shows in Washington, D.C. In Wisconsin she taught French at Central High School in La Crosse, and at Wisconsin Statr in LaCrosse. She also traveled, and worked for the United States' State Department as a translator in Africa. In 1988 she was named an outstanding alumnus of the University of Maine at Fort Kent.