Page 10 - Newsletter Winter 2018

Charlie Fortier TEMPLE

Homegrown THEATER
HOULTON

By Paula Woodworth ‘70

In the 100th Anniversary year of the Temple Theater, I sat
down with Charlie Fortier (1979) to talk about his HHS
experience, life away from Houlton, and returning to town to
purchase the theater. During the course of our conversation,
I learned a lot about the theater business which I will share in
this column.

By his own admission, Charlie felt he was an “odd duck” in
high school. He read and kept to himself and felt that high
school was not a great experience for him. He did mention
some teachers who stood out in his experience - Mr. Wiggins,
Mr. Tweedie, Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Stone and Mr. Henderson.

Charlie wanted to be a writer but knew he needed a way to
make a living. He was inspired by a barber in town and decided that was what he would do and write in the back
of the shop. He trained at Bernard’s in Lewiston and returned to Houlton to work at Modern Beauty. He soon
realized that being a hairdresser was not his calling. He then attended UM-Machias and earned his degree in English
composition. After graduation, he moved to Waterville and got a job in book production with Thorndike Press. He
worked his way up to VP in the company.

Following this, he moved to Rutherford, NJ and worked in purchasing with Simon and Schuster until it was
purchased by Pearson. He continued his employment and became the Director of Strategic Procurement with
financial oversight for equipment. His knowledge and experience saved the company millions of dollars. When the
CEO retired, the new CEO brought in consultants to run the company and stock took a dive. At age 55, Charlie
By Karen Donato ‘69
found himself out in the job market and unable to find a suitable position.

While he was working in book publishing, Charlie also pursued his passion for writing and wrote eight books of
historical fiction which he self-published under a pen name. He developed a small, loyal following for his books.

While looking for a job, Charlie saw the story about the essay contest to find a new owner for the Temple Theater.
He wrote an essay and entered the contest which was eventually cancelled. When the theater went up for bid, he
bought it and returned to Houlton in 2016 to pursue a new line of work.

Running the theater presents a number of challenges. Of course we all remember the controversy of the parking lot
that came with the theater. That was eventually resolved and now there are the many challenges of running a small
theater in a remote location. This is when I learned a lot about the theater business. I still have a picture in my
head of a truck pulling up in front of the theater and unloading large reels of film. Actually, the movies we see are
delivered to a satellite on the roof of the theater and downloaded to the projector. More than one satellite may be
needed depending on the type of film being shown.

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