Barbara F. Dyer has done it again. Tucked away in her cozy Camden home, in the company of her large — and imperious — black cat, Shadow, the town’s official historian has been working over the past several years on yet another comprehensive volume about the characters who have shaped Camden.

Who’s Who at Mountain View II, explores more of the lives and stories that, until now were buried at Camden’s largest cemetery, and it is Dyer’s 12th book about the town’s history.

“I love Camden and do not want its history to be forgotten,” this 90-year-old dynamo said. You know Dyer, known affectionately throughout the community as Barbie D., for she writes columns in local media, and occasionally speaks up in letters to the editor about issues. Keep your eyes peeled for a well-coiffed woman driving a blue Saab convertible, and that will be Barbie D., on her way to the library, or to lunch with old friends, or to see her beloved brother at Windward Gardens.

Her latest book follows her first collection about the cemetery residents, Who’s Who at Mountain View, which was published in 2010.

“Since then, I have researched and written about many more people and their contributions to this area,” she said. “As I am addicted to saving Camden history, I feel Volume II is necessary.”

Dyer described the cemetery, on Mountain Street (Route 52), heading up the hill and on the left, as peaceful, serene and beautiful.

In her second volume, she also includes a few of the stories about people who are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery on Hosmer Pond Road.

And in Dyer’s unique voice, the former residents of this area come alive under her pen. Dyer has lived and breathed the history of Camden for decades, and she can tell you tidbits of lore on just about everybody who has walked the local streets — or at least about their families and neighborhoods.

In her newest book, learn about a blind pianist, unusual work ethics, the Civil War, those who lived off the land, and even more buried history that has been documented for the first time.

Camden Town Manager Patricia Finnigan wrote in a review: “In Barbara’s latest work, she reveals even more intriguing details about the people who preceded us and their connections to us today. Barbara’s inquisitive and skillful approach to this endeavor allows her to weave a narrative of Camden’s history that transports us to those times.”

And, Dyer is no armchair historian. She lived and breathed the waterfront, employed for 44 years at Wayfarer Marine.

In 1983, she was working in the shipyard and had saved clippings of launchings, and the boats that had been built for the war effort in World War II.

“I found that the Camden-Rockport Historical Society nor Camden Public Library had any record of all the shipbuilding that had been going on in Camden since 1800,” she said. “I spent lunch hours researching the Camden Herald and ended up writing Go Ho! The History of Wooden Vessel Building in Camden, Maine.  That started it all, and it is a sought-after book sometimes found in the rare book sections. That launched it and public speaking. I had never even thought of being a writer or do any public speaking. So it was not a dream come true. Now, Who's Who at Mountain View,  Vol.II makes the 12th book on Camden.”

Dyer was born in Rockland because Camden did not have a hospital until the following year.

She lived on Harbor Road until she was 10 years, and then her family moved to 125 Chestnut Street, where she lived for 25 years. 

When she was 35, she built her own home on Highland Ave., in the same neighborhood.

“Camden had 3,000 people in it and it was like one big family during the Great Depression,” she said. “People liked people instead of money, as there wasn't much. Everyone went to your graduation from Camden High School, because they all were your family, they thought.

“You did not go home another way, because someone would have called your mother and she knew about it before you arrived home. You went to school, school functions and home, because it was not nice to hang out in the parks or streets.

“I loved school  and worked at what is now Wayfarer Marine, as office manager and accountant for 44 years. I really wanted be a teacher of English or math, but there was no money and NO scholarships for girls, but I had taken college courses in high school because my grade school principal, Mary E. Taylor, told me not to let anyone talk me into taking a commercial course. But I ended up in an office, where I never wanted to work, so had to study accounting, speed writing, etc., after I began working.I do everything backwards. I went to the University of Maine in Thomaston, after I retired from working. My ranks were high, even with gray hair) so they asked to joined the Phi Theta Kappa Society.”

Her books are in Owl and Turtle and Sherman’s in Camden and the Reading Corner in Rockland.  She also sells them herself. Call 236-3104 or email barbaradyer820@yahoo.com.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657