WALDOBORO – Samuel Pennington III, who launched Maine Antique Digest from his kitchen table and grew it into a national publication, has died at the age of 78.

In 1973 Pennington and his wife, Sally, wrote the 28-page first issue on a typewriter and distributed it to five people. It now averages more than 250 pages and is distributed nationally to about 20,000 subscribers.

Pennington, who died Saturday at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, was the driving force behind the magazine’s success, his wife said.

“He talked and I typed,” Sally Pennington said. “We knew nothing about making a newspaper, but we thought, ‘Why not?'”

Pennington was born in Baltimore and joined the Air Force after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. While stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor in the 1960s, he and his wife ran an antiques shop on the side, but grew frustrated when they couldn’t find reliable information about the early American furniture pieces they were buying and selling.

After he retired from the military, they published the Waldoboro Weekly for a short time before launching Maine Antique Digest.

For years, Pennington searched antique shops and attended auctions throughout New England, writing about items that were for sale and how much dealers paid for them.

“Some dealers didn’t like that because they couldn’t jack up their prices,” his wife said. “But the readers liked it.”

Pennington served on the local school board for many years, co-hosted a weekly community TV show and was active in the Democratic Party.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years and five children, two of whom work for Maine Antique Digest. A memorial service will be held this spring.