Who we are
The Penobscot Bay Pilot connects a wide range of communities into a larger and lively online regional network, emphasizing immediate and free access to community news, opinions, public discourse and perspectives, as well as business and citizen participation. The Penobscot Bay Pilot provides answers, information and resources, establishing a hub around which citizens actively engage.
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Lynda Clancy, a founding director of Penobscot Bay Pilot, has been reporting in Maine since 1984, when she first started covering Bucksport, its mill and union strikes.
The beauty and complexity of New England and the Maritimes — their culture and controversies — have inspired her as a writer, editor and photographer. She has yet to tire of chronicling the lives of hard-working and unique individuals, all of whom shape the times here.
She holds a bachelor’s degree, 1982, from Sarah Lawrence College. Lynda serves on the Maine Right To Know Advisory Committee, a past president of the Maine Press Association, and is on the board of the nonprofit Legacy Rockport, which works to target community investment in assets that enhance the quality of life in Rockport.
She can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com.
Janis Bunting, a Penobscot Bay Pilot founding director, has more than 30 years of sales experience promoting unique businesses, products and services through an array of original online products designed for Penbaypilot.com as well as print for our bi-annual midcoast WAVE Magazine. Well versed in the opportunities and benefits of online advertising, she puts a lot of effort to stay on the cutting edge of this constantly changing field.
In 1993, Janis left Boston for a one-year residency program at the Maine Photographic Workshop, now known as Maine Media Workshops + College in Rockport. She had plans to return to Boston after completing the program, but, while headed south on Route 1 in her rented U-Haul filled with all her belongings, the thought of Camden and its beauty began to haunt her. She decided to turn around and make Camden her home.
Nearly 29 years later, Janis and her husband, Steve, completed a passive solar home in Hope and have raised their two daughters, Quinn and Kierra there.
She is enjoying the benefits of this wonderful coastal town and boating on its beautiful nearby lakes. Janis also continues to stretch her artistic vision with dried flower wall installations when time allows.
She can be reached at 207 706-6656 or janisbunting@penbaypilot.com.
Contributors
Kay Stephens, a Maine freelance writer, has been with Penobscot Bay Pilot since it launched. With a B.A. in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and an M.A. in writing and publishing from Emerson College, she has covered local arts & entertainment since 1999.
She has written for TheScene, Dispatch Magazine, Bangor Metro and Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors. She is also the Managing Editor for two Maine magazines: Maine Brew Guide and Activities Guide of Maine.
She is the author of The Ghost Trap, a Maine lobstering novel, which has recently been optioned to become a film, and co-author of Cyberslammed, an award-winning nonfiction cyberbullying guide.
A Maine native, Sarah Thompson has been with the Pilot since 2014. She writes on a variety of topics and has gained recognition for the photographs that accompany her articles. In her spare time, Sarah can be found enjoying the Midcoast's natural wonders on and off trail.
Sarah Shepherd is the police and court reporter for Knox County. She moved to Camden in 2005 after living in Washington, D.C., for 21 years. Sarah’s professional experiences were in fundraising, community relations, special events and volunteer management at several national nonprofits. Her positions included creative writing projects so being a community reporter and writer is an exciting opportunity to share the experiences and stories of some interesting and special people.
After experiencing the fallout from 9/11, especially when she lived near the Pentagon, Sarah was ready to return to living in a small community. She fell in love with coastal Maine after visiting friends during her summer vacations.
Sarah is active in the local community including serving as a deacon at the First Congregational Church, member and former board member of the Camden Rotary Club and various special event committees, such as Winterfest.
The fall months will find her cheering away for the Penn State Nittany Lions (her Pennsylvania football roots) and now the Patriots.
Sarah lives in Rockport with her two spoiled basset hounds and three cats. Her dream is to write a children’s book through the eyes of her basset hounds.
As a true Maine “native,” Barbara F. Dyer died in 2022, but she remains with us through her insightful columns that we periodically republish.
"As I felt when very young, that there was no place better to live. I graduated from Camden High School in 1942 and went to work at Camden Shipbuilding & Marine Railways Co., as World War II had started and they were building vessels for the war effort. My dreams were not to work in an office, but become a teacher. As we grew up in the Great Depression and there were no scholarships for girls, I was offered a job in an office and accepted because they were building vessels for the war effort.
"During the years, owners changed, the name of the company changed, bosses changed, but I remained. For 44 years, most of that time as office manager and accountant.
"My second life or career was to save Camden's history. To accomplish this, I wrote 14 books, hundreds of articles for the newspaper, internet and a couple of magazines. Then at age 70 I taught Adult Education on Local History, Antiques and Public Speaking. Many talks I gave at local organizations, the Camden Public Library and schools on Local History. Also served the town on the Select Board and several town committees.
“As it is never too late to get more education, I attended the University of Maine for two years. The students must have thought I was their professor or grandmother, but it was enjoyable. In my spare time, I worked as a member of the Camden Women's Club, volunteered at the Camden-Rockport Historical Society and The Camden Area History Center (now the Walsh History Center at the Camden Public Library).”