Timothy J. Sample (born ) is a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

, famous both for his presentation and his Maine accent. He has sold well over a million copies of his books, albums, and videos, including four albums and a video for the Bert and I company. In the summer of 1993, Sample was recruited by

Charles Kuralt Charles Bishop Kuralt (September 10, 1934 – July 4, 1997) was an American television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. He is most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on '' The CBS Eveni ...

as a correspondent for the Emmy Award winning TV Show CBS News Sunday Morning. Over the following 11 years, Sample produced over 100 "Postcards from Maine" segments which introduced millions of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

viewers around the nation and the world to the lifestyles of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

rs.

Early life

Born in

Fort Fairfield, Maine Fort Fairfield is a town in Aroostook County, eastern Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Can ...

, and raised in

Boothbay Harbor Boothbay Harbor is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,027 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Bayville, Sprucewold, and West Boothbay Harbor. During summer months, the entire Boothbay Harbor regio ...

, Sample and his wife have a home in Calais, and despite the traveling his career calls him to do, he has never lived (or wanted to live) anywhere other than in Maine.

Career

Sample's first album of Downeast humor was recorded in 1979 and produced by

Noel Paul Stookey Noel Paul Stookey (born December 30, 1937) is an American singer-songwriter who was famous for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary; however, he has been known by his first name, Noel, throughout his life. Nowadays, he continues to w ...

, "Paul" of

Peter, Paul, and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

. The liner notes for the album were written by humorist Marshall Dodge, who, along with his partner Rev. Robert Bryan, created the world-famous Bert and I recordings back in the 1950s. After Marshall Dodge died in 1982, Sample recorded four albums and a video for the Bert and I company. Sample and Bryan have collaborated on a number of projects since, including several TV specials, the popular recording ''How to Talk Yankee'', and the TV specials ''Out of Season'' and ''Maine Humor Behind the Barn''. Sample has also written and illustrated several books, including ''How to Talk Yankee'' and ''Saturday Night at Moody's Diner''. Sample's national TV appearances include

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

and Good Morning America. He has also narrated many films and books on tape, including

Robert McCloskey John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for t ...

’s children's classic ''Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man'', Stephen King’s '' The Sun Dog'' and '' Drunken Fireworks'', and a reconstructed version of the 1930 documentary '' From Stump to Ship''. In August 2006, Tim Sample released his first two DVDs, ''Tim Sample 2006'' and ''Back in the Day''. ''Tim Sample 2006'' was recorded in June 2006 at The Bangor Opera House. ''Back in the Day'' contains digitally remastered footage of Tim's performances from 1983 and 1985. In 2020 Sample appeared in a series of TV, radio and online attack ads funded by

End Citizens United End Citizens United (ECU) is a political action committee in the United States. The organization is working to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court 2010 decision in '' Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission'', which deregulated limits on indep ...

targeting US Senator

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Con ...

.Maine’s ‘humorist laureate’ Tim Sample cuts ad ripping Collins for Big Pharma, Wall Street ties
Dan Neumann, Beacon, Maine People's Alliance, June 17, 2020. Tim@BBOH 2011

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people American humorists People from Fort Fairfield, Maine People from Boothbay Harbor, Maine 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Hebron Academy alumni {{US-comedian-stub