Nancy Lou Nielsen

As long as our name is spoken, we live.

Nancy will always remain in my mind and heart forever. She was an environmentalist and always worked for a cleaner, caring world.
She and Allan were a special force for Washington County and their work will always be felt.

https://vimeo.com/293538796 follow this link to a recording of Nancy reading her poems to filmmaker Holly Fisher. With photos of Nancy and Alan. recorded summer, 1990 in their home in Lubec, Maine

There were many special memories of Aunt Nancy. I always enjoyed our visits to Massachusetts and swimming in the "ice tea" colored spring fed pond, making homemade root beer, always lots of unique animals, good cooking, and experiencing a lifestyle that was exotic in my eyes. My husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to bring our children to visit Aunt Nancy and Lubec in 1991 (we had not seen her since our wedding in 1979 where she was our photographer) and she spent her time taking us to Campobello Island, the beautiful coast, and the best little roadside stand for clams and Maine lobster. I will cherish the memories of Aunt Nancy and my times spent with the Nielsen family. The picture attached is one I have discovered in a box of old photos that my mother (Nancy's sister) had. It really shows Aunt Nancy's passion for life! Rest In Peace Aunt Nancy. Love, Your Niece, Starr

I never got to meet Nancy, either. I'm a friend of Alan's, and knew her through his letters and e-mails since the '80's. Nancy's was a life well-lived. I can only hope all of our lives are remembered with such purpose and legacy.

I never met Nancy but felt I knew her through my brother-in-law, Alan. After I sent a note upon being told of her grave illness two or so years back, she sent me a note of thanks in a card inscribed with one of her poems: Now Rises April: "as from a winter sleep, as from a dark constellation, April rises: birdsong, watersong, green shoots, promise of flowers, saltmarsh perfume, call of shorebirds as from a dark sleep, I rise, surprised, take a step toward rising light, toward the promise of flowers, an old woman, singing, fair, fair is the morning." No doubt because of fading health, Nancy clearly never took for granted waking up to another day. All of us should be similarly inspired by her example and use them wisely.

Nancy was a friend, mentor, and beacon to many Downeast, including me. Nancy was a force of Nature, and a force for Nature, a woman of great intelligence, great commitment, many passions, and, always, always, a love of words and writing and poetry. Many of Nancy's poems resonate for me, even years after I've read them, but this one sticks in my mind more than others.
There May Be A Bear, May, On The Trail, Be a Bear
by Nancy L. Nielsen
Remember, first, that you stink in the nose of the bear.
Sit quietly.
Sit by the side of the trail, quietly.
Remember that the bear is not awed by erudition.
Cease prattling of French restaurants and Jung.
Remember that the bear speaks in a low voice.
Sit quietly and listen.
At the end of the day,
You may have seen a bear, or you may not;
even if you have not, you should make a mark
three sticks, three stones
this is the Place Where I Waited For The Bear.
This will be your place, always.
On the other hand, you can rush home
nervously, write it down,
write it up but then
you'll have to live with that counterfeit bear,
misshapen, smelling bad, a sullen shape in the corner,
eyes flickering with your small red fears.
This will be your bear, always.

I felt blessed and very thankful to know Nancy and Allan. These two enlightened people who could strike a meaningful conversation everything under the sun without prejudice. O how I will missed talking to you guys. My heartfelt gratitude for sharing your lives to me, your experiences, beliefs, creeds and reasons to live will be treasured in my heart forever.

Sent with Love and Remembrance.

She was a wonderful person and left an enduring legacy. My best to Alan and Reinald - I miss you all!

I sit this morning in my Grandfather's chair in my treetop library, grateful for the life of Nancy Nielson, life artist, environmentalist and extraordinary poet, who passed on Monday. Her work has infused my life, with three of her publications within my sight as I write. As she aged, I feel her writing became leaner...keener...and impacted me on so many levels.

Nancy allowed me to utilize one of my favorite of her poems Sweet Sovereign Root, first published in the Beloit Poetry Journal 32 years ago in the Spring 1989 issue of the Maine MOSAIC, which was devoted to culture and health. I chose it because it resonates with my own family history, being raised in an extended Aroostook County farm family in the 1950s, with grandparents who knew how to use muskrat root and poplar bark. A poem of passing, I literally take it off my wall to share in her memory today.


Sweet Sovereign Root

My mother died in the Spring.
She died of thick blood. That grieved me
and I thought it astonishing; I thought
of her death as caused by a successful transition
to the middle class. I knew, without looking
behind the fruitwood veneer doors of her cupboards,
what I would not find.
No fever root, toothache root, sweet sassafras.
No sassafras. Mama, I thought, we've come a long way
from our childhoods, from black salve and sang
and spikenard to an empty cupboard
and you dead of thick blood.
No spicebush, flower of melilot, rose gold sassafras
tea of Spring, to thin the blood. Mama,
you never let me down; your paper packages
of bark followed me to college. You had never read
Proust, you only knew that it was dangerous
not to quicken wintry blood, but when I brewed
your roots it was suddenly Spring, even there,
among the unbelievers.
No more. The palm trees outside my mother's room
denied the existence of Spring. I thought, if there are ghosts
(yes I hope there are ghosts) they will be wise women,
with aprons full of comfort, and they will take her home
to chamomile, star root, sweet sovereign sassafras.
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Love, love and more love to all beings who loved Nancy.

You have been in our thoughts over the last few years, Alan, and especially now. Nancy was such a big part of your life,for so long, that your world must feel turned upside down. We hope to see you often in the coming months.

Love, Tim and Kay

So sorry to hear of Nancy's passing. May your precious memories of this wonderful lady sustain & comfort you.

Nancy, was a tremendous inspiration to me. She and Alan were always working for the betterment of the world and specifically Washington County. As a State Senator in Maine for 3 terms the both of them were always examining legislation and evaluating it for it's impact on the environment. She was a close and trusted friend. She will be missed.

My deep thanks and gratitude for sharing your exquisite poetry, thoughts, and memories within the making of (feature film) Bullets for Breakfast those many years ago. You have my promise that your poetry will live on. With much much love, Holly Fisher
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