Book profiles Maine warden

A WARDEN’S WAY: The Story of Lyle Smith, Maine’s “Flying Warden,” by Lyla E. St. Louis. North Country Press, 98 pages, illustrated, softcover, $11.95.

The story of Maine’s legendary Warden Lyle Smith is a fascinating one indeed.

But the real intrigue of this account comes from the perspective of the author, Smith’s daughter Lyla E. St. Louis of Freeport.

Capturing the tender moments of this, the most celebrated of game warden careers, St. Louis offers up a sweet story of a gentle man who loved Maine, the outdoors and wildlife of his treasured Mount Desert Island, and who administered his duties with an adamant respect for all the God-given treasures within those confines.

Prior to 1928, the year he joined the Maine Warden Service, Lyle Smith worked for the National Park Service in the construction of the famous carriage roads. During his 25-year career as warden, Smith was regarded as a tough but compassionate upholder of the law, who could “take tea with famous mystery writer and summer resident Mary Roberts Rinehart or look the other way during the Depression when he saw a poacher taking a deer to feed a hungry family.”

Smith could be stern in his handling of poachers, however, and showed no gentleness whatsoever to those who blatantly disregarded the law in the destruction of wildlife. He was as likely to shoot a neighbor’s dog who chased deer as he was to fill his house with hungry travelers.

The book is filled with delightful anecdotes of a simpler time in Maine when the Smith family kept a pet deer or watched in awe as famous guests on the island like Jayne Meadows dropped in for a visit.

But the real legend of this warden stems from his love for flying. Ironically, Smith’s first plane could not fly at all and was used only to scurry along the ice to capture fishermen who abused the limit laws of the state.

Soon, however, Lyle did get his coveted flying license and used the plane to reach remote spots of the island, unreachable by foot in a quick pursuit of violators.

Shortly after World War II, Smith met a wealthy, young pilot, and the two were soon fast friends.

According to Lyla St. Louis, “The young pilot knowing Lyle’s love of flying, one day said to him, `Pappy, if you can earn your pilot’s license, I’ll see that you have a plane of your own.’ ”

That was all the motivation Smith needed. He was soon in the air, on his own, and his legend was established.

After his retirement from the Warden Service in 1953, Smith devoted his time to his work at Pond’s End each summer, building canoes for boaters, helping out in the family restaurant, or taking visitors on an island cruise.

Lyla E. St. Louis lost her beloved father in 1961, but she has kept his memory alive in this touching account. This book will no doubt fail to gain the national recognition it deserves, for like many of Maine’s treasures, the story of Lyle Smith is another of those wonderful things about our state that is shared by few and loved by all who knew him.

This biography, of sorts, is worth twice the cover price, for it tells of a man who loved his family, his job and his island. We should feel privileged that Lyla St. Louis shared the story with us.

Ron Brown is a free-lance writer who resides in Bangor.