Harvard Authors Profile: Gigi Georges on Rural Optimism in America

When most think of Maine, overstuffed lobster rolls and relaxing summer vacations often come to mind. The stories of the people who call Maine home are often pushed aside, especially if they are from Maine’s most rural counties. One such place, Washington County — the region often called the Downeast — has a quite negative reputation for its diminishing population and high poverty rates.

Gigi Georges wants to change this narrative. In her nonfiction book, “Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America,” Georges paints a new picture of this rural corner of the United States and suggests that optimism remains alive in rural America.

Georges is not originally from Maine, and she was not always an author. Georges is a native of Brooklyn, New York, and had a long career in politics and academia: She was a former White House Special Assistant to the President and previously worked at the Harvard Kennedy School. In an interview with The Harvard Crimson, Georges explained how she came to write about Washington County.

“When my husband and I met in New York and married, we made the decision to move north,” said Georges. “First to Boston, because I had an opportunity to do a fellowship at the Kennedy School."

"Then we made the decision when we had our daughter, Margaux, to move to a more rural place."

Her husband had a connection to Southwest Harbor, so Georges moved to Maine. There, she started to learn more about the communities of the Downeast, or the region stretching just north of Mount Desert Island.

“What I was hearing was, frankly, quite a bit of negativity,” said Georges. “And a lot of this narrative of despair and hopelessness around what outsiders perceived as what life was like for young people growing up in rural places. And I wanted to investigate that because I wasn't sure that that was the whole story. In fact, I suspected that there was more to the story.”

While Georges knew that she wanted to write about Washington County, getting her foot in the door to Downeast communities took some help. She talked to community members, such as Reverend Scott Planting, former President of the Maine Seacoast Mission, a local nonprofit. Georges also utilized one key strategy when connecting to the local people of the Downeast.

“I listened,” said Georges. “I put judgment aside. Or I tried to — we all have our biases — but I really wanted to know, from their voices and their eyes, the good and the bad, and we spent a lot of time together. And I feel very, very fortunate that they gave me that gift of trust.”

The trust that Georges found in the Downeast allowed her to follow the stories of five young women she met, each with their own challenges and amazing successes. For example, her book highlights one girl’s efforts to continue her family’s lobster fishing legacy, and another’s journey to overcoming domestic abuse to succeed in her community. Georges hopes that her book will show readers that rural America has a bright future.

“What I hope to do is show that in addition to all of the challenges that are very real in places like Downeast Washington County, that there is also a tremendous amount of rootedness, optimism, resilience, and connection to home,” said Georges.

After writing “Downeast,” Georges decided to give back to the communities that provided her with these hopeful narratives. In collaboration with her husband and the five young women featured in “Downeast,” as well as the Maine Seacoast Mission, Georges launched the Downeast Exploration Fund in 2022.

“It’s a small thing, but I think I think and hope it's meaningful to these young women and to the recipients,” said Georges. “We're now heading into our third year. And it's really to provide some funding for opportunities that young people might not otherwise have, particularly for summer, and perhaps even for during the school year, to have experiences and things that interest them beyond academics and beyond the work life that they engage in.”

Georges hopes that this fund will help young people in the Downeast find their passion. Indeed, Georges extends this advice to young people in general. When asked about advice for college students starting their careers, Georges emphasized the importance of finding what you love.

“First, figure out what makes your heart beat faster,” said Georges. “Figure out what you're passionate about. And second, just pursue it. And don't let the obstacles that you will inevitably encounter stop you.”

Georges explained that the five young women featured in “Downeast” all embody this advice.

“I watched these five young women, each of whom had tremendous obstacles of different types in their way,” said Georges. “They could have considered themselves victims. They could have said, ‘I just can't do it.’ Instead, they looked around and they found the mentors and the supporters in their high school, in the community, in whatever avenue they felt comfortable in, and they picked themselves up, with the support of those around them. They kept pushing on.”

This resilience and passion for the future is ingrained in Georges’ book. As a Downeaster myself, the stories of these women make me incredibly proud to call Washington County my home.

—Staff writer Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com.