Michael E. Reagan Jr.
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michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Michael E. Reagan Jr.
@michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
160 followers 530 following 75 posts
UMaine alum fond of digressions
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michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
A funny thing about teachers is how they can have an impact, no matter what kind of student you were in their class.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
Kelly Martin, Brooks Hamilton and Jill Berryman Hooper at the Maine Campus Christmas party, December 1992.
December 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
A unicorn and a chicken led the charge during the "No Kings 2" protest in Auburn, Maine, last Saturday. That's not a sentence I thought I'd write, but neither is "I waved a sign" to voice my disapproval."

open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
October 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Signs at the No Kings 2 protest, Auburn, Maine
Could he be more of a dictator? With a picture of Matthew Perry from “Friends.” A person in an inflatable white chicken costume holding a “No Kings” sign. Hate Will Never Make America Great A person in a frog costume holds a sign saying “A crown doesn’t make much sense but a plunger does!”
October 18, 2025 at 10:14 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Feeling vulnerable as a college student, along with the example of a talented roommate-artist, helped me more than I thought at the time.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
One of the front doors of Oxford Hall at the University of Maine at Orono has a powder blue letter "M" on it with "Oxford Hall" underneath.
September 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Kindergarten Confidential: How the Fear of Not Being Able to Attend Kindergarten Turned out to be a Bigger Story than I thought.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
The purple headline "How I Almost Wasn't Admitted Into Kindergarten" is surrounded by side views of black shoes.
September 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Generations of Ballers

While I once thought everyone in Maine was as crazy about basketball as my family, noticing the differences made me think of the ways in which people look at aggressive play differently when it comes to boys' and girls' high school games.
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Judson Flanagan, left, appears in a Rockland High School boys basketball uniform of a tank top and shorts with his arms behind his back. Carol Flanagan, his twin sister, right, wears her Rockland High School girls basketball uniform of a long skirt and short sleeves while holding a ball.
August 28, 2025 at 11:02 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Like all great movies, "Go" has made me reflect on scenes in it, especially the part showing people lying about how high they were getting after they downed baby aspirin sold as ecstasy.
The film made me reflect on the human capacity for denial.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
The poster for the 1999 movie "Go" features Sarah Polley and Katie Holmes standing up, looking at the camera, while Timothy Olyphant crouches as he holds a gun.
August 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
While I tried to behave as a youngster, everyone in my family knows how much I argued unsuccessfully against going to the beach. I hate it. Mom still loves it. These are our stories.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
A picture of me as a baby at the beach in 1970. I am wearing a white t-shirt and smiling at the camera as my father holds me up while clad in plaid swim trunks.
August 15, 2025 at 12:52 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
My first-grade teacher died at 94, which might be the age where people start to ask, "Did she teach at my school?"

I wanted to write a little more about Sr. Rachel Cushman, to help people remember and maybe pause and pay tribute to teachers they liked.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
August 1, 2025 at 12:16 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
The cover photo I'm sharing is of a book I loved as a child. It showed what people did at Fenway Park in Boston before Red Sox games. To those librarians and teachers who take chances on titles to share with children, thank you.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
"The Ballpark: One Day Behind the Scenes at a Major League Game," by William Jaspersohn has a photo looking down on the field at Fenway Park in Boston during a Red Sox Game.
July 24, 2025 at 1:44 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
No, the University of Maine at Orono didn't remain exactly as I remembered it. But when it came to New Student Orientation, the speakers stressed the importance of having conversations with incoming college students and making sure they knew of ways to help.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
A screen in the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine at Orono says "Hearty Maine Hello!" during New Student Orientation in June.
June 27, 2025 at 12:16 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
“No Kings” rally, Lincoln Park, Portland, Maine
June 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
If ever asked to do educational consulting, my message would be brief: Everything follows classroom management, also known as keeping students in line.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
May 29, 2025 at 3:47 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Time at the University of Maine at Orono in the 1990s provided moments of drinking, climbing and being oneself, with the last category proving to be the most difficult.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
May 22, 2025 at 3:11 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
One of the things I like most about the picture below is the guy seen above Kathy’s left shoulder in the group picture. He’s standing on a folding chair, trying to find people after the end of graduation at the University of Maine at Orono in 1991.
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Two University of Maine at Orono graduates in gowns stand next to a sunglasses-wearing friend after commencement in May 1991.
May 15, 2025 at 12:50 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
A ninth-grade art class made me think about the way people use negative spaces on a page, and over time, in everyday life.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
May 1, 2025 at 2:45 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Typing out newspaper obituaries turned out to be more entertaining than expected after noticing certain tributes broke out of the formats people had been given.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
April 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
On nuns, shepherds and Australian shepherds.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
February 28, 2025 at 12:49 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social

I didn't try to record an audio track that lasted 4 minutes and 20 seconds. It just happened.
open.substack.com/pub/michaele...
January 9, 2025 at 2:16 AM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Christmastime in Lewiston, Maine.
A giant skeleton stands in the front yard of a home in Lewiston, Maine, clad in a red Santa hat and red scarf with red ornamental balls dangling below the skeleton’s hips. An enlargement of the red ornamental balls dangling below a giant skeleton’s hips in Lewiston, Maine.
December 8, 2024 at 6:18 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Great Lost Bear, Portland, Maine
A wooden bear sculpture wears a long-sleeved t-shirt with “Great Lost Bear” written on it on the front. It stands behind the bar at the Great Lost Bear in Portland, Maine.
November 29, 2024 at 8:58 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social

I don't want to end up being the person who looks back fondly at the past while leaving parts out. This includes sharing about relatives' lives and how I wish theirs had been different.
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The 2007 Flanagan Family Open's group picture on the practice green next to the clubhouse of the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland, Maine. More than 50 relatives gather together wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts featuring golfers, young children and cousins coming together for the traditional family photo.
November 28, 2024 at 8:17 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Seen in Lewiston, Maine
November 27, 2024 at 1:03 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
While I enjoy sharing stories of silly events at the University of Maine at Orono, that wasn't everything. I also remember a criminal case connected to my dormitory that forced me to reflect on excuses men make and being a bystander.

michaelereaganjr.substack.com/p/perfect-su...
The outside of Oxford Hall at the University of Maine at Orono in Orono, Maine. Metal letters on the brick exterior spell out "OXFORD HALL."
November 21, 2024 at 3:11 PM
michaelereaganjr.bsky.social
Seen at the Mangy Moose in Freeport, Maine
A bag has a picture of a seagull wearing sunglasses with a French fry in its mouth with the caption, "I'm here to steal your snacks." The bag has a seagull stuffed animal in it.
August 18, 2024 at 9:06 PM