Rolde, Neil (1931 - )

Genre: Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction - Scholarly

Educated at Philips Andover, Yale, and the Columbia University School of Journalism, Neil Rolde lives in York. He has been variously described as a politician, philanthropist, environmentalist, publisher, health care policy analyst, writer, and historian. He was District 106's (York and part of Kittery) representative in the Maine House for 16 years. He also served as an assistant to Kenneth M. Curtis, governor from 1967 to 1975. Rolde's last political campaign was in 1990 when he ran for U.S. Senator but lost to William Cohen, the incumbent.

He is the owner of Tilbury House, a Gardiner publishing company named after E.A. Robinson's "Tilbury Town."

Rolde is one of Maine's best-known and well-respected historians. In 1998 the Maine Historical Society awarded him the Neal W. Allen Award for "outstanding contributions in the field of Maine history and genealogy."

Selected Bibliography

  • York Is Living History (1975)
  • The Interrupted Forest: A History of Maine's Wildlands (1980)
  • Sir William Pepperrell of Colonial New England (1982)
  • How Augusta Became And Stayed The State Capital (1982)
  • Rio Grande Do Norte: The Story of Maine's Partner State In Brazil: What it's Like, What its Past Has Been and What Are its Ties to Maine (1984)
  • So You Think You Know Maine (1984)
  • Maine: A Narrative History (1990)
  • Your Money or Your Health: America's Cruel, Bureaucratic, and Horrendously Expensive Health Care System: How It Got That Way and What To Do About It (1992)
  • Recommendations for Health System Reform (1995), the final report of the Maine Health Care Reform Commission
  • An Illustrated History Of Maine (1995)
  • The Baxters of Maine: Downeast Visionaries (1997)
  • Unsettled Past, Unsettled Future: The Story of Maine Indians (2004)
  • Maine: Downeast and Different: An Illustrated History (2006)
  • Continental Liar from the State of Maine: James G. Blaine (2007)
  • Maine in the world : stories of some of those from here who went away (2009)
  • Real Political Tales: Short Stories by a Veteran Politician (2014)