The Maine Summer Eugene O'Neill ecause th e pJa}"\Tight Eugene 0 ' eill, hailed by many a th e be t American dramatist ofthe 20th century, spent the summer of 1926 at Belgrade Lake, hi Blife, and perhaps arguably, the literary worl d, wa changed forever. Had he not summered here in Maine that fateful yea r, dcep in the creation of trange Interlude, he may have not met a certain lady, and he may also have plunged back into a world of heavy drinking. 0' Tcill had only quit drinking a few month before and he was detennined as ever to continue to write. That certain lady, Carl otta Monterey, who would become his third wife, would one day fight to publish one of his grea test plays posthumou Iy, just as he wi hed it, without changes. Eugene stated that he couldn't have written it without her. The play, Long Day's loumey into ight, would eam 0 ' eill a fourth Pulitzer Prize. But we are ahead of our story. We must travel back to a hotel room in ew York City on October 16, 1888, where Eugcne 0 ' eill was bom. Ironica ll y, Portl and, Maine, wa nearly Eugene's birthplace, becau e hi father, th e great ri sh ac tor and matinee tar James 0 ' ei ll , along with his fam il y, had been in town here for extended performances of The Count of 10nte Cristo just weeks earlier. The elder 0 ' eill , who at the time was king th e stage with the great tragedian dwin Booth, had come to loathe his role of leading man Edmond MATTHEW JUDE BAR KE R MAy • PORTLAND MAGAZINE • 25 Dantes in Charl e echter' adaptati on of After yea rs of roaring fights with hi ia. Jamie wa placed in a anitarium, th e Al exandre Duma novel, having father, Eugene was able to patch ~lin g battling real and imagined demon, played it more than than 6,000 times up W i~l him before he died in 1920. His where he di ed oon after. h between I 3 and 191 , re ulting in a mother Ell a, who became a morphine Eugene did not want to end up that I stultifying but fin ancially secure career. addict after the birth of Eugene, fin all y way. Reali zing the terrible pa radox of a But now there was the promise of hi went traight in 1914 and was put in being a great writer and a great drinker, new on, a promi e fulfill ed. charge of her late husband's estate, which ~l e playwright unden\'ent a brief p ycho­ o y th e ummer of 1926, young included real estate all over the country. analytical peri od and with only a fe \\ 11 Eugene 0 ' leill had tumed 3 and Eugene' m O ~l e r died unexpectedly in slips, never drank aga in . Ii Bhad already won two Pulitzer Prizes Lo Angeles in 1923. t the time, Eu­ ll1e events of 1923 we re th e ba i for for hi plays Beyond the Horizon, a four-act gene' play The Hai ry Ape was in pre­ 0 ' leill 's last compl eted play, one of hi tragedy et on a [ ew ngland fa nn , and production. The night the play opened in greatest, A Moon fo r the Ii begotten Anna Christie. ot only that, 0 ' leiII had [ ew York, Eugene's bro~l e r Jamie, (1943/1947). alrcady done enough living for ~lree men. extremely intoxicated, arrived Wi~l ~l e ir In the spring of 1926 Eugene wrote toa He'd attended Catholi c prep chool , m O ~l e r's bod on the train from Califom- fri end that he needed new ports of call, fl unked out of Princeton after two e pec iall y a place to li ve and write fo r the emester , ma rri ed, di vo rced, and Miss Carlotta Monterey, ummer. He necded a place to work, re marri ed, had three children, mined for relax, and above of all stay ober. gold in Hondura , was a eaman, li ved recently divorced, and rrangements were made b ' Eugene' and pent much ti me in saloon and once a bit actor in one of literary agent and summcr rc iden t of f1 ophou e in [ ew York, \ as a new paper - , Belgrade Lakc , Ma ine, Richard lad­ reporter and poet in ew London, pent ':r :01\Ieilrs plays, came to den, to preview ome propertie , \\'ho a winter in a anitarium recovering from jumped on the telephone. Ju t a fe \\ tuberculo i ,studied playwriting at . .. nearby Long Pond. Carlotta weeks, a train ride, and a breath offr h Han'ard, pent a winter at Bell evue after was a fetching sight, air later, the 0 ' leili s, incl uding hi he lTied to commit alcoholic suicide, econd wife Agncs Boulton, ~le ir on helped found the Provi ncetown especiaHy when she hane Rudraighe, 6, and da ughter Oona (Ma sachusetts) Playhou e, and received a not ye t 2, arrived and we re en conced in gold medal from ~l e ati onalln tih.lte of appeared in a risque the real e ta te offi ce of EnTin A. Bean, Arts and Letter . And on top of it all , he brother of celebrated outdoorsman L. L. uffered several personal tragedies. bathing sun. Bean, searching for th e pcrfect lakefront • getaway and perhaps a bit more. 0 ' eill wa about to embark on one of his strange interlude, the one we all hare as residents of th e very complex and pine- hored state of aine. The 0 ' eills finall y settled on a cottage on Belgrade Lake named Loon Lodge, a name he relished and commented on to friend . t one point he wrote that, "The b day Eugene and Agnes O'NeIl visited Miss Marburl and Carlotta was asked to show Eugene the bathhouse so he could change for a swim. above name of our camp i no horrible ·:t . , je t but a fact! After a winter spent at ,'; Bellevue, I'll ay it looks as if God had taken to symbolism, what? However, I remain not only ane, but al 0 ober.' eat once went to work on tral1ge Interlude, a play he hopcd to fini sh Hthat ummer. 0 ' eill cnjoyed relaxing on the lake and keeping up with \\'imming, which he loved. The local who a\ the tall , dark-haired, impre ive­ looking 0 '1 eill probably never realized he best way to find professional help is to they had a famou playwright in their ask friends and neighbors who whey've mid t. Workmen built a tar-papered Tused ... who they recommend. hack for 0' lei II away from the cottage Start asking around about financing for a new itself, where he cou ld e cape to wri te, home, a real estate investment or construction and you'll start to hear the name Phil Laughlin. a\\'3y from creaming kids and all the Phil's been a loan officer for ten years and has other distraction at the cottage, which owned First Financial Mortgage for the past included a vi it by Eugene' elde t child , eight. He makes sense ... suggesting things like Eugene Jr. , of whom he had een little getting pre-approval on you loan before you over the yea r . shop ... and being approved without your loan being subject to the sale of your current home. After his writing e ion s, 0 ' eill would Phil Laughlin is a local guy working for a local make a beeline for the water and swim lender. .. and doing a great job, too. In fact, Phil's almo t a half mile to a mall point and First Financial Mortgage is the number on back again. Onl then wa he ready for mortgage company per volume in Cumberland chit-chat. County. Thafs a lot of happy customers, a lot of good referrals. Ask around ... then call Phil 0'1 eill was at fir t content with his stay Laughlin ... 775-42-hundred. Whether you're at Loon Lodge, but by early ugust, after buying a home, investment property or need a a month at the retreat, he began to brood construction loan, let Phil Laughlin make the and hi writing darkened. His new play F. Philip Laughlin Parter/loan Officer process easy. Call him today ... 775-42-hundred. \1<1 giving him kicks and fits, and he \\<lnted to blame his wife Agnes, hi toddler children, and even hi on Eugene and Agne' daughter Barbara First Financial Mortgage from a previou marriage, who had al 0 come to tay for awhile. The older children were eventually hipped away F. Philip Laughlin Parter/Loan Officer from the lake ahead of schedule. 78 Atlantic Place • South Portland, Maine 04106 \t the same time, another play, La::arus [email protected] · (207) 775-4200 Ext. 202 · Toll Free 1-888-775-4200 Laughed, wa finding a cool reaction from the literal)' critic in ew York, and she admitted he at fir t felt indifference tarted taking frequent trip by car around he feared that for the first time in yea r he toward the pIa) vright, a spark was oon tile Maine countryside, often accompan­ may not have any plays on the boards the ignited. They would often meet by "acci­ ied by gu ides like Ervin Bean.