| Shep loved Maine, often
speaking about it on his WOR radio show. He even owned a
cabin up there on Snow Pond from at least 1977 until it was
sold shortly before his death in 1999. Apparently Shep left
the cabin around 1986 and never returned leaving everything
behind. When the house was sold, the realtor packed up some
of the items and shipped them back to Shep's lawyer. A Leg
Lamp and Red Ryder were among the items.
The new
owners make some observations
"While cleaning out the camp we found this wooden sign hung
from the rafters. It is an elaborate sign with a black
background and gold letters. On one side is the word
Excelsior and on the other You Fathead. Imagine our surprise
when we read the title of the book. We have been wondering
what the significance of the sign was. I always thought
Excelsior was probably an obscure beer since we found a work
of art with every imaginable beer label in the camp. I
believe it is signed by Shep and that he did it himself.
He also drew a flower thing on one of the doors.
One of the first things we noticed was a large old propeller
which was hung on the wall of the downstairs room. It was so
big and we just didn't know what to do with it. We finally
called an antiques dealer since we really had no way to keep
the thing."
The propeller could very well be
the one given to Shep by a group of students after a show at
Middlesex High School on January 26, 1968. He spoke with one
of the students on his January 29th show.
Another interesting item left
behind was a room full of Ham radio equipment and 5 antennas
on the roof. No lonely nights in Maine for Shep!
The Camp
The cabin is 17x34, two levels, a daylight basement on
the lower level with a 17x17 addition built in 1974. The
porch, 34 x 8, runs the entire length of the daylight
basement overlooking the lake. The cabin had no running
water or functioning septic system. The water was fed
from a neighbors camp and seemed to be a source of
tension. The rights to use the neighbor's water ended
with the sale of the cabin. A
Visitor
William Forstchen, author of "The Lost
Regiment" and co-author of "Gettysburg" also lived in
Snow Pond and met Shep one day when he became bold
enough to knock on the front door. You can read his
story here: 
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