My name is Cathy Cooper and I first contacted Barbara Dyer after seeing her articles on Camden Maine in the Courier Gazette around 1998. 

 

My interest was not only because my grandparents, Mildred Tolman Knight, Thomas Knight, my mom and aunt had lived there but also, Camden is a beautiful town. 

 

We had summered in Camden staying at my grandparents' house on Mountain Street. My family had been living in the Chicago area since 1974 but we drove to Camden every summer.

 

I had questions for Barbara about my mom, aunt, grandmother and step-grandfather.  She graciously answered my questions in detail, including that my grandmother was her elementary school nurse and they called her 'Millie the germ' and she worked at the Camden shipyard (now Lyman Morse) with my step-grandfather for 44 years!   

 

I started to feel close to Barbara so I sent her flowers on Mother's Day and asked if we could meet for the first time in person when I came to Camden over the summer. She agreed and my friendship with Barbie began. We met at the Waterfont restaurant and Barbie, being five feet tall and me being six feet tall, laughed and called us Mutt and Jeff!

 

We stayed in touch and I moved to Rockland in 2010. In 2011, my boyfriend, Paul, and I began to bring lunch to Barbie on Sundays. Her 90s were tough on her as health issues snuck in and took hold.  Covid also was tough on her being an active and social person, but her mind was as sharp as ever.

 

I want the world to know about Barbie, that she was a wonderful author who wrote 13 books, primarily about Camden and the surrounding area. 

 

Barbie was born in Rockland, only because Camden didn't have a hospital and she happily lived her entire life there. Barb was independent in an era when women were dependent on men just because opportunities weren't there for most women. 

 

She worked full time, took her paycheck and gave it to a contractor, who would build her house one room at a time, enclose the area until Barbara got paid again and another room would be completed. This continued until the house was completed, she never had a mortgage on the property. She also bought her cars outright with cash. She never had a car loan.

 

Her mother was from Lebanon and her dad from Islesboro. 

 

I loved Barbie very much. She was an upbeat lady with a great laugh. She wasn't scared of dying and believed she would see her mom, sister, her brother and her friends she had said goodbye to over the years, she also hoped to see her cats she loved so dearly that were gone. I hope she is rejoicing with those who went before her.