June 6, 2026 @ 10:00am (Duration: 1 Hour)
Mushroom Mania
Register Now:Join author and illustrator Hilary Bartlett for a talk inspired by her book, Mushroom Mania. Learn about the fruiting bodies of fungi that support plant and human health, as well as Maine’s economy. From culinary and medicinal mushrooms to the growing interest in foraging, this program explores why fungi are capturing so much attention today. Copies of Hilary’s book will be available for purchase following the talk.
Instructor Bio(s)
Hilary Bartlett was born and raised in postwar Liverpool, England, a predominantly Irish city where markets stocked a dozen varieties of potatoes, rarely mushrooms. Hilary studied fungi as part of her microbiology training and earned her doctorate from University College London.
A summer science fellowship brought Hilary to Boothbay Harbor in 1975 to work at Bigelow Lab. She was supposed to return to London, but Maine’s rocky coast bewitched her — she never left. Hilary first hunted for wild mushrooms when she came to live in rural Maine – she stumbled upon a dapple-lit wonderland, Oven’s Mouth in Boothbay, where mushrooms poked through moss and leaf litter along steep banks of a tidal waterway.
She quit scientific research after her daughter was born and started a home-based art business. Hilary’s paintings have been exhibited at galleries in Maine and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She also taught microbiology for eleven years as an adjunct professor at the University of Maine Augusta. After she retired, Hilary volunteered at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and focused on writing and illustrating books. Her latest work of non-fiction, Mushroom Mania, was published by North Country Press.
Register Online
How Many Tickets Do You Want?
There is a 5 ticket maximum for this event.