In his introduction to ACADIA - Visions and Verse, Jack Perkins writes: "In television, pictures and language are what count. The job is to find the right words and array them in the right order to complement, adorn, and animate the right images. In other words, television done correctly is marrying pictures with words. This book is the same, the same basic process --- raised, I hope, to a new level."

For a number of years, Jack Perkins and his wife Mary Jo made their home on a small island off the coast of Bar Harbor, Maine. This life was a far cry from the fast paced world of broadcast journalism, which had formed Perkins' workplace. But the solitude and quiet of Maine permitted him to pursue his lifelong desires to make photographs and write poetry. Close proximity to Acadia National Park provided ample subject matter.

Acadia is a magical place --- site of a vast array of land and seascapes. A short hike can lead from majestic seashore to forested paths and freshwater streams and ponds. Perhaps such natural diversity explains in part why so many people from all over the world visit this beautiful park each year.

Each of the poems and images included in this book stands alone ably, but taken together they create a broader, more sweeping vision of this remarkable region. ACADIA - Visions and Verse will be many things to many people. Some will keep it as an album to remind them of past visits or inspire those to come. Others may find in its pages reassuring testimony to the possibilities life holds, regardless of age, career, or society's tendency toward stereotype. Everyone, however, will find here words of cheer and solace accompanied by beautiful images for the eye and soul.