On July 8, 2026 at 6:00 pm at the United Unitarian Church of Brunswick, 1 Middle Street, Brunswick come meet Maine authors Jack Montgomery and Barbara Kent Lawrence as they share about their book “Both Sides of the Pond – My Family’s War: 1933-1946.
In January of 1939 when the author’s mother Barbara Greene, a beautiful young British actress, met Joe Kennedy, Jr., son of the American Ambassador, she could not have expected that their relationship would lead to her emigrating to the United States and learning to pilot a plane. Neither could her brother, Kent, have foreseen his bitter retreat from Dunkirk when he left England in January 1940 to fight in France, or his subsequent service on the frontlines in Cornwall, North Africa, Sicily, and Burma. Their lives, told in this vivid, emotionally charged story of resilience, romance, and the true cost of war, would never be the same.
Maine authors Jack Montgomery and Barbara Kent Lawrence tell stories, relevant to our own, of people who lived through the darkening time of World War II. They will introduce their books, discuss ways in which their work weaves together, and answer questions from the audience.
Through portraits and firsthand narratives, Jack Montgomery’s beautifully illustrated new book From the Holocaust to Maine: Testimonies of the Survivors brings to light the lives of Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Maine. Most of these 21 remarkable people were children during the dark years of fascism in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, making their stories deeply poignant and memorable.
This event is free and open to the public.
Jack Montgomery
Jack Montgomery is a photographer based in Freeport, Maine. He has been making images since the early 1990’s. His subjects have ranged widely. His Holocaust survivors. Hehas since gone on to photograph New York Firefighters after 9/11, transgender youth, judges, villagers in the Dominican Republic, and dancers in Portland, Maine and Sienna, Italy among others. He has also completed several landscape and architectural series, focused primarily on Maine but also including Italy (mainland and Sicily) and Japan. His recent photography focuses on landscape and cityscape in the context of its totalitarian past, including Rome, Tuscany and Berlin.
His photographs have been exhibited in Maine, New York City, Italy and France. They are included in the collection of museums and private individuals and seen on book covers.
Jack prints his photographs by a variety of means, including the 19th century processes of kallitype, palladium (“ziatype”), photogravure, gelatin silver and archival dye prints.
Jack and his wife live in the coastal region of the Maine coast, which has been the setting for many of his photographs. His three daughters and 5 grandchildren live nearby.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
I came to Maine as a summer kid in 1948 and graduated to being a “year-round summer person,” when I moved to Mt. Desert Island in 1979. I’m fortunate to have found the place I love most when I was young.
As a professor, I taught courses in anthropology and sociology, research, and writing non-fiction and memoir. Before that I worked for the Department of Social Services and the Housing Development Administration in New York, directed a small museum in Maine, co-ran a brokerage and construction company, consulted for the Rural School and Community Trust and KnowledgeWorks, and started four non-profit organizations supporting the environment and students.
My experience is “eclectic” but it has given me a chance to look at my world from different perspectives and learn many stories. People are sometimes instructed to write from pain and passion, and I would add: immerse yourself in something you want to learn about. My books reflect all three motivations.
In a book edited by his daughter and with the same title, David McCullough tell us History Matters. He reports that Barbara Tuchman answered the question of how to make history come alive with two words: “tell stories.” They are both right.
Barbara and her longtime partner Bob live in coastal Maine.
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