Whatever It Takes: Seven Decades of True Love, Hard Work, and No Regrets

by May Davidson

For nearly seventy years, May and Jim Davidson shared a relentless drive to do “whatever it takes” to achieve success and happiness and, most importantly, to remain in their beloved Maine. They fell in love as teenagers, built their first house using twenty dollars worth of lumber, and set about creating the life of their dreams. They soon learned that optimism alone wouldn’t sustain them. To make ends meet, they lobstered, fished, farmed sheep, started a lobster trap sawmill, and crisscrossed the country as long haul truckers. They eventually collapsed into debt and uncertainty while trying to raise thousands of chickens, so they regrouped and fought their way out again using the sea as their inspiration. May Davidson’s tale is a decades-long tapestry of adventure, brutally hard work, lightheartedness, and risk-taking that serves to inspire any reader determined to live a rich life despite obstacles.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 20, 2019

About the author

May Davidson was born in 1929 in Damariscotta, a charming fishing village located in midcoast Maine. In 1947, she graduated from Lincoln Academy, a private high school in the nearby town of Newcastle. She married her teenage sweetheart, James, a year later. Determined to stay in Maine, Davidson and her husband experimented with several entrepreneurial endeavors––from creating a lobster trap building facility to raising purebred sheep--before finding worldwide success with the design of the iconic Maine Buoy Bell. Today, she lives in Whitefield, Maine, and is known for her column in The Lincoln County News.

Reviews

[Maureen Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Moxie!

The love of Maine and their marriage was poignantly relived in this book. I am in awe of their work ethic and love of nature.

[Kenneth P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What an amazing story

I literally could not put this book down. What a great and powerful story about two wonder ft and determined people who through many adventures came out stronger and even more in love in the end. Truly inspirational!!!!

[Susan Emmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly remarkable memoir full of insight and a keen eye for sensory and personal detail.
Jim and May Davidson lived in midcoast Maine where they worked a host of "jobs" which really echoed their values, needs and desires. They farmed, raised chickens and sheep and goats and cats and dogs, set up logging operations, did long haul trucking, lobstering and the North Country Wind Bells company which still exists and thrives.
What most drew me in was May's clear voice and recall of the details, the trials and joys, of their life together. Devotion born of values shared and a commitment to often grueling work, as well as enduring love for each other and for adventure fueled their lives and connected them to the land and water, to their families and friends, and to the larger range of nature.
Just simply a wonderful book!

[Marcia Gillis]

A message of persistence and reaching for your dream life. Although your vision may be different, unique or harder than you expected, achieving happiness is often disguised by hard work and getting into the dirt. A simple life on the surface can be much more rewarding than a life filled with things. The adventure and sharing it with someone you love is what makes a journey successful when it comes to the end.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

From beginning to end, this book held my interest. Although about a couple from Maine, it could be about any of us who love our particular home state, our desire to be with our spouse or partner, work hard to accomplish our goals and live a good life. This story of May and Jim Davidson, their life, work and experiences will stay with you long after reading the last page.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is well-titled as May & Jim do whatever it takes to keep living the Maine way of life. Very well-written!

[Amy Billings]

My cup of tea!