| About Baril
Books How I got interested in mining and booksFor those that are interested, here is how I got started in my quest for
minerals and mine locations and then into the book publishing business. My wife, Helena, and I had purchased the East Sumner Trading Post in East
Sumner, Maine in 1991, we were both working 80 hours a week We sold
groceries, drinks, tools, logging supplies, boots, clothes, gift store
and a 40 seat restaurant, The great old building had 12 inch hand
hued beams and was put together with 1 inch wooden pegs. It was built
in the late 1700s and had a great deal of history and charm. My mining adventures all started in 1996 when one of our frequent customers and friend [Dick Bragg] told me about a mine that he owned and had mined with the late Charlie Bragg. This mine was only 5 miles away in Hartford. I asked to see what the mine looked like, and on my very 1st trip to the top of the mountain, I got the mining bug. Within a month we had worked out a lease agreement that allowed 4 partners to ante up $500 each to get the equipment to drill and blast. [The mountain did not have a name so we decided to call it “Dickie Doo Mountain”]. It wasn’t until the summer of 1997 when we got the tools, equipment and permits that were required to mine. We spent a few hours each week during the summer looking for the elusive treasurer. Sure was a great experience because at that stage I didn’t know a rock from a piece of beryl or tourmaline. During the great Ice Storm of 1998 the East Sumner Trading Post burnt
to the ground and a decision had to be made to rebuild or not. It
was a very tough decision, but at our age we decided
that a new mortgage of $200,000 and 20 year commitment was
more than we could take. During the summer, after the loss of the store, I went to the mountain nearly every day to mine. At 62 I just needed time to think about what I was to do for the rest of my life. At night I started to read every mining book I could get my hands on and was listing each name of the mine, minerals and where I got the information on my computer in the Excel program. The first books I read were Jane Perham's and C J Stevens'. I was quite excited when I listed the first 100 mines and wondered if
I could ever get to 200. To make a long story short, I spent several
years of research in libraries, historical societies, registry of
deeds, old newspaper articles, old maps, personal interviews etc.
and finally reached 1000 mines. My wife kept encouraging me to publish
the data for others to enjoy. I made 100 copies and soon sold out.
My 3rd release is just about ready for
printing with 1232 mines listed. [Should be ready about Dec.
1, 2002] In 1999 I had met C J & Stella Stevens and I asked if he would be interested in me selling his books to Rock Shops and Book Stores here in Maine. I went to a couple of dozen stores and have sold over 500 copies. Now I had two people telling me to put my book to print because C J said it would probably be the most complete and informative data base in existence on mine identification and location for the State of Maine. How I got in the Publishing and Distribution BusinessDuring 2000 I discovered that The Winthrop Mineral Shop had the rights to some of Phillip Morrill’s mine location books. After a year and lots of patience Pricilla and Sonny sold me their rights and their complete inventory of 1800 books. This is when I decided to go all out and sell every mining book that was available. My next interest was to get the rights from Harvard University to print other Phillip Morrill books that had to do with NH. Vt. and RI. Mines. So far so good, I had 7 of Phillip Morrill's books, my own and C J Stevens books to sell. My next interest was to get “We Walk on Jewels” by Jean Blakemore. It took several months and lots of research to find out who had the rights to that classic book. On September 19, 2002 I bought the rights and printing plates from Jeans daughter Jane. Jane was thankful that someone was going to keep this sought after book alive and I was privileged to be the one to get it. [The printer has assured me, that the reprints will be ready by Christmas
2002] As you can observe there are 23 items available on New England mining for sale, both wholesale and retail. If you know of any other mineral or mining material that should be in print, please let me know. If you wish to be put on a mailing list or want to know when new materials are available, then E-Mail me at gary@barilbooks.com |