I'm always interested to learn how people transition from one job to another. I'm fascinated to meet people like David Young pictured here who do what they love to do and know that the money will follow. David started Freeport Book Shoppe in 2001 after working as Security Director for Maine Medical Center for 20 years.

David is from Bangor who with his family moved to Greenport, Long Island where he attended high school. David wasn't a book collector at an early age. However, he told me that he read all the classics before he entered high school. He moved back to Maine and I'm guessing in his 20's he signed up for the Army reserves. He completed his reserve committed in August of 2001.

In the last few years before David left Maine Medical center, he began going to book auctions. To his credit, he has invested well in real estate; including 176 U.S. Route which is headquarters for Freeport Book Shoppe. He does have a Raymond store that is only open during the tourist season. He is a self-taught antiquarian and used book expert. I rarely goes to a book auction these days. Rather, he has "book scouts" who know what David likes to buy for his store. He considers himself a book generalist, yet David learns quite a bit from his customers and their particular interests. While I was interviewing David, a customer from Farmington Maine was eagerly browsing the shelves for early English mysteries. Apparently, this person is one of his regulars!

He estimates that he has 40,000 books available for sale at any given time. He calculates this by determining how many books on average will fit in a linear foot and multiplies that by his total available shelf space. One he visited an estate sale in Bowdoin and discovered a treasure trove of books in a huge, classic Maine barn. There were books dating back to the 1700's and 1800's. He paid the estate a fair price and loaded up what amounted to 2 pick up trucks worth of books. The books easily sold once they arrived on his Freeport shelves. David sells books for as low as a dollar all the way up to $300 for a rare book.

David is on a book finding mission for me. He is looking for a book by a German U-boat captain about his perspective on submarine fighting during World War II. As you may know from my profile, Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson is one of my favorite books. John Chatterton who is the main character in this book now lives in Harpswell Maine. Chatterton and his partner Richie Kohler discovered and properly identified U-869 as being sunk 60 miles off the New Jersey coast. U-869 had previously been thought to have sunk off the coast of Gilbralter. Even if you aren't a submarine fan, you will be spellbound by reading Shadow Divers. Check out Robert Kurson's website at www.robertkurson.com

His busy time starts when the tourists arrive on Memorial Day and goes right through the end of October. January and February business tends to be a bit slow. For David and his wife, that's a good thing. He just returned from a trip to Mexico which helps to break up the long snowy winter. For more information go online at http://www.freeportbookshoppe.com/ or call 207.865-9524