Dale Potter-Clark

Dale Potter-Clark is a Maine native whose family has lived in the same small Maine town for well over 200 years and where she helped establish that town’s historical society. She first realized a love for her home State’s history as a child, when she discovered Williamson’s History of Maine in her grandparents’ attic.

For forty-five years Potter-Clark worked as an R.N. and a hospice executive director when she discovered natural gifts for writing and observing people while quietly and empathetically listening to their stories - skills that have served her well throughout her adult life. Following the accidental deaths of her older son and first husband, Potter-Clark took a four-year hiatus from nursing and worked as a historical interpreter at a living history center. There, her spark for Maine history and an eagerness to learn more about her roots was re-ignited.

Potter-Clark was told more than once during those forty-five years that she could write a book about her life experiences, but thanks to that spark for history her writing took a different direction. From an 18th century farmhouse in rural Maine that she and her husband share, she has researched and written historical articles for local newspapers, Discover Maine Magazine and authored several books, blogs and monographs pertaining to Maine history. Three non-fiction books she has authored since 2016 include: The Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine (co-authored with Charles Day, Jr.); The Paupers and the Poor Farms: Support and Care of the Poor 1791-2018; and Brief Biographies c.1900: pertaining to some residents of Readfield, Maine.

Potter-Clark released her first historical novel in 2022 titled Escape from Bunker Hill, about the Underground Railroad, in which she relished the freedom to draw on her imagination for the storyline while weaving throughout many actual people, places and events of the day. Among the prized comments and questions Potter-Clark has received from her readers are, “I couldn’t put it down.” “I learned so much!” and “Will there be a sequel?” She is available and enjoys talks at libraries, bookstores and historical societies, during which she uses humor and taps into another skill, speaking in the Maine vernacular.