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Portland People

Portland People is a series of interviews with the people of Portland, Maine. It is dedicated to the idea that everyone has a story and that we are all interesting. It is also a way to introduce Portland to the rest of the world.

This installment is about Steve Schools. Steve is a painter and paper hanger, at least that's what he says. He is so concerned that his customers see what they are getting into that he only does business with people that are referred to him by his other clients. He wouldn't even allow me to put any contact information on this page. Suffice it to say that he does good work and that he gets the best out of his clients and his tools. He helped me with my ceiling and made sure I learned how to do it. Since he was doing it at a discount, I thought it was darn nice of him.

But that's not why he's being written about. He also collects stuff. From his mile of style collection of vintage leather jackets and the sewing machines to keep them up to several pounds of green copper wire that he found one day, some say it's junk, in his hands it's art.



When you approach something that you've never done or worked with before do you see the big picture of what you want to do or do you go at the details first and see what they build into?

I have a goal in mind. I know what I want to do with the tools and materials. I do it. There are always hurdles to cross and sometimes I knock a few down, but I get it done.


Did you ever go into something as a complete novice and immediately see what needed to be done and how to do it?

Well the obstacles I have to deal with are pretty small. If you knock over a glass of water you just pick it up and use what's left.


Any interesting stories to tell?

Well the fastest painter I ever knew lived in Houlton and one day he decided to paint the side of his barn. He got himself a forty foot ladder, eight gallons of paint, put the ladder against the barn and started to climb the side of the barn. He was having some trouble as he was carrying the paint with both hands but he pushed on. As he reached the top of the ladder he realized it was not as stable as he thought and that it was about to fall over. As the ladder fell he grabbed the ridge of the roof with his teeth. 40 feet up he was so fast that he yelled for help three times without spilling a drop.



Please note that while the meaning of the words is the same these interviews are not direct quotes.


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