The Colorado Rockies are hiring Paul DePodesta of “Moneyball” fame from the NFL‘s Cleveland Browns to run baseball operations, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the move has not been announced by the team.
DePodesta, who inspired Jonah Hill’s character in the movie “Moneyball,” returns to baseball after nearly 10 years with the Browns. He was named Cleveland’s chief strategy officer in 2016.
He takes over for Bill Schmidt, who stepped down following a 43-119 season that flirted with the worst all-time mark in MLB history. The Rockies are in need of a transformation after becoming the first team with three straight 100-loss seasons since Houston in 2011-13.
In his nearly 10 seasons with the Browns, DePodesta did not make personnel decisions but worked with the front office and coaching staff on targeting players during free agency in March and the NFL draft in April.
The Browns were 57-101-1 during DePodesta’s tenure, including the playoffs, and their .362 winning percentage was fourth lowest in the league. There were two playoff appearances, but also a 1-31 stretch in 2016 and ’17. The 2017 squad was 0-16, the third winless franchise in NFL history since 1976.
In 2020, he headed the search that led to the hirings of general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski. The duo made the playoffs in 2020, including the franchise’s first postseason win since 1994, and again in ’23.
While DePodesta’s processes helped in the selection of Myles Garrett in 2017 and Baker Mayfield one year later, he was also involved in the 2022 trade with Houston for quarterback Deshaun Watson that resulted in the Browns sending three first-round picks to the Texans.
DePodesta continued to live in La Jolla, California, and would commute occasionally to Cleveland.
DePodesta played baseball and football at Harvard, then began his baseball career in 1996 in Cleveland as an intern in player development. He was a major league advance scout in 1997-98 and later special assistant to the general manager.
In 1999, he joined the Athletics as assistant general manager to Billy Beane. He was a key figure in the 2003 book “Moneyball” about the A’s 2001 wild-card run, with author Michael Lewis writing, “Paul was a Harvard graduate. Paul looked and sounded more like a Harvard graduate than a baseball man.” In the 2014 movie by the same name, Hill played a fictional character, Peter Brand, who shared DePodesta’s analytical background but not his athletic one.
DePodesta parlayed his experience with the Athletics into a two-year stint as the Dodgers’ general manager. He then went to San Diego from 2006 through ’10, where he rose to executive vice president.
DePodesta came to the Browns from the Mets, where he was the vice president of player development and amateur scouting from 2011 through ’15. The Mets made the World Series in 2015 before losing to the Kansas City Royals.
Walker Monfort, the Rockies executive vice president, vowed at the end of the season to bring in a new voice from outside the organization and give them autonomy to take an updated look at how to turn around a franchise that finished 50 games behind the World Series-champion Dodgers in the NL West. The Rockies have never won a division title.
The move also comes before MLB’s general manager meetings begin on Monday in Las Vegas.
The first order of business for DePodesta will be deciding on a manager. The Rockies fired Bud Black in May after a 7-33 start and promoted Warren Schaeffer to take his place. Schaeffer went 36-86 the rest of the way as the Rockies narrowly avoided the worst mark in baseball’s modern era. Their 119 losses were tied with the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the third-most in a single season since 1901, slightly in front of the 2024 Chicago White Sox (41-121) and the 1962 Mets (40-120).
One positive about a season gone sideways is that Colorado’s youth gained some experience. There were a franchise-record 13 players that made their major league debut.
Another big decision will be what to do with slugger Kris Bryant, who was limited to 11 games this season as he dealt with a back ailment. Bryant has played in only 170 games with Colorado because of an assortment of injuries since signing a $182 million, seven-year contract before the 2022 season.
DePodesta may need to find creative ways to turn Coors Field into a home-field advantage. The Rockies were 24-56 in the Mile High City, the most losses in franchise history. Their 4.56 runs per game at home were their fewest in franchise history, edging last season’s mark of 4.89.
The Rockies posted a minus-424 run differential, surpassing the minus-349 mark held by the 1932 Boston Red Sox for the the the worst mark in the modern era.
AP sports writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this story.
The Colorado Rockies are hiring Paul DePodesta of “Moneyball” fame from the NFL‘s Cleveland Browns to run baseball operations, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the move has not been announced by the team.
DePodesta, who inspired Jonah Hill’s character in the movie “Moneyball,” returns to baseball after nearly 10 years with the Browns. He was named Cleveland’s chief strategy officer in 2016.
He takes over for Bill Schmidt, who stepped down following a 43-119 season that flirted with the worst all-time mark in MLB history. The Rockies are in need of a transformation after becoming the first team with three straight 100-loss seasons since Houston in 2011-13.
In his nearly 10 seasons with the Browns, DePodesta did not make personnel decisions but worked with the front office and coaching staff on targeting players during free agency in March and the NFL draft in April.
The Browns were 57-101-1 during DePodesta’s tenure, including the playoffs, and their .362 winning percentage was fourth lowest in the league. There were two playoff appearances, but also a 1-31 stretch in 2016 and ’17. The 2017 squad was 0-16, the third winless franchise in NFL history since 1976.
In 2020, he headed the search that led to the hirings of general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski. The duo made the playoffs in 2020, including the franchise’s first postseason win since 1994, and again in ’23.
While DePodesta’s processes helped in the selection of Myles Garrett in 2017 and Baker Mayfield one year later, he was also involved in the 2022 trade with Houston for quarterback Deshaun Watson that resulted in the Browns sending three first-round picks to the Texans.
DePodesta continued to live in La Jolla, California, and would commute occasionally to Cleveland.
DePodesta played baseball and football at Harvard, then began his baseball career in 1996 in Cleveland as an intern in player development. He was a major league advance scout in 1997-98 and later special assistant to the general manager.
In 1999, he joined the Athletics as assistant general manager to Billy Beane. He was a key figure in the 2003 book “Moneyball” about the A’s 2001 wild-card run, with author Michael Lewis writing, “Paul was a Harvard graduate. Paul looked and sounded more like a Harvard graduate than a baseball man.” In the 2014 movie by the same name, Hill played a fictional character, Peter Brand, who shared DePodesta’s analytical background but not his athletic one.
DePodesta parlayed his experience with the Athletics into a two-year stint as the Dodgers’ general manager. He then went to San Diego from 2006 through ’10, where he rose to executive vice president.
DePodesta came to the Browns from the Mets, where he was the vice president of player development and amateur scouting from 2011 through ’15. The Mets made the World Series in 2015 before losing to the Kansas City Royals.
Walker Monfort, the Rockies executive vice president, vowed at the end of the season to bring in a new voice from outside the organization and give them autonomy to take an updated look at how to turn around a franchise that finished 50 games behind the World Series-champion Dodgers in the NL West. The Rockies have never won a division title.
The move also comes before MLB’s general manager meetings begin on Monday in Las Vegas.
The first order of business for DePodesta will be deciding on a manager. The Rockies fired Bud Black in May after a 7-33 start and promoted Warren Schaeffer to take his place. Schaeffer went 36-86 the rest of the way as the Rockies narrowly avoided the worst mark in baseball’s modern era. Their 119 losses were tied with the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the third-most in a single season since 1901, slightly in front of the 2024 Chicago White Sox (41-121) and the 1962 Mets (40-120).
One positive about a season gone sideways is that Colorado’s youth gained some experience. There were a franchise-record 13 players that made their major league debut.
Another big decision will be what to do with slugger Kris Bryant, who was limited to 11 games this season as he dealt with a back ailment. Bryant has played in only 170 games with Colorado because of an assortment of injuries since signing a $182 million, seven-year contract before the 2022 season.
DePodesta may need to find creative ways to turn Coors Field into a home-field advantage. The Rockies were 24-56 in the Mile High City, the most losses in franchise history. Their 4.56 runs per game at home were their fewest in franchise history, edging last season’s mark of 4.89.
The Rockies posted a minus-424 run differential, surpassing the minus-349 mark held by the 1932 Boston Red Sox for the the the worst mark in the modern era.
AP sports writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this story.
The streetside sign in central Maine invites visitors into the city, onto the pages of Stephen King’s books and into the imaginations of readers across the world.
It’s where King’s hometown of Bangor serves as a blueprint for the chilling fictional town of Derry. Each lurks within the shadows of the other and, in the eyes of some, peers out at times like a clown in a sewer drain.
That sewer — the most famous in the city, and perhaps the literary world — sits at the corner of Union and Jackson streets. It’s where King, while passing by on a morning walk, got the inspiration for his classic novel “It” – making it one of the many local landmarks he has used while transforming Bangor to Derry.
Doing so has allowed readers that go there through King’s words to familiarize themselves with a place they’ve visited many times yet have never actually been.
“If you’ve been to Derry in your imagination — and you’ve seen Derry, Maine — when you come to Bangor, you recognize it,” said Monique Bouchard of the Downtown Bangor Partnership. “You recognize places that you’ve read about because they’ve been brought to life so accurately.”
The “Welcome to Bangor” sign on Union Street in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
Thearea took on a new life form with the recent release of the HBO original series “Welcome to Derry” – a prequel to “It” that explores 1960s Derry and its dark history.
“I’m always fascinated with how somebody has turned another place into my home,” Bouchard said of Bangor being recreated on screen after filming outside the city. “How has someone taken another community and turned it into this place that I know like the back of my hand.”
Knowledge of Bangor to an outsider exists only in the back of their mind. So, during a recent four-day stay, locals were asked about the city, King, and the new show that both played a pivotal role in.
The Sewer
The sewer drain in Bangor, Maine that inspired Stephen King to write “It.” (Mike Gavin)
Welcome to Jackson Street.
Near the curb that runs along to the side of the house owned by Todd Jacobs is what might be the country’s most visited sewer drain.
Depending on the day of the week and the number of local King tours passing through, Jacobs estimates that as many as 150 people a day could stop by.
“We actually enjoy it,” Jacobs said. “It’s kind of fun being on a famous street corner.”
Some visitors occasionally do some decorating.
“Red balloons are constantly tied on it,” he said. “Like at least one a week, sometimes there could be one a day.”
That’s what happens when you’re neighbors with Pennywise the Clown.
Bangor resident Todd Jacobs stands next to the sewer by his house that inspired Stephen King to write “It.” (Mike Gavin)
Jacobs, originally from Connecticut, moved to Bangor about 25 years ago and into the house shortly after. A former assistant manager at the local Borders bookstore, he’d occasionally spot King signing copies of his books and returning them to the shelves.
Their paths would soon cross again in another form. Jacobs, who grew up reading Kings’ books, learned years after moving into the house that the sewer just feet away from his front door inspired King’s plot for “It.”
“It was kind of a wives’ tail, an urban myth that went around the neighborhood,” he said of the sewer, a circular street grate as opposed to the curb inlet variety depicted by King.
“He’s always kind of had a soft spot for where he’s from,” Jacobs said, “and he’s kind of put that into a lot of his writing.”
With the new show once again spotlighting the city — and the sewer — Jacobs says, “It’s kind of neat that they’re continuing the lineage.”
And he’s not concerned about it leading to an increase in visitors and red balloons outside his house.
“We’re not worried, we actually welcome it,” Jacobs said. “It’s good to have people in Bangor for positive reasons.”
The Bar
Stephen King themed beers are available at 2 Feet Brewing in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
Welcome to 2 Feet Brewing.
Pull up a stool at this downtown brewery, order a craft beer, and wait for a local to tell a King story.
On an unseasonably warm October afternoon, a tale was shared within a half hour of arrival by Dave King, an 80-year-old lifelong resident with no relation to the author. The two Kings were former colleagues as high school teachers at nearby Hampden Academy in the 1970s.
“I’d like to think that he’s the famous one, I’m the bright one,” Dave King said, “but I’m afraid that doesn’t work either.”
The former history teacher described a young Stephen King, then an English teacher, as an avid reader and writer, a liberal and an overall “great guy.” He said the soon-to-be-author was originally living just west of Bangor in Hermon while teaching at the school when a group of kids destroyed his mailbox with a baseball bat.
That led Stephen King to change his mailing address to the school.
“He had often said, ‘Even if I get published, I’m gonna keep teaching,’” Dave King recalled. “One day, the message arrived in the mail in the office at Hampden Academy that ‘Carrie’ was being published, and he looked up and said, ‘I’m gonna quit teaching.’”
He did just that and went on to become a wealthy best-selling author…though he still has a local outstanding debt.
Dave and Stephen King were watching the Boston Red Sox face the New York Yankees in a one-game playoff on Oct. 2, 1978. In a New England horror on par with any King novel, Yankees’ light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent hit a go-ahead three-run home run that would end the Red Sox season.
“I bet on the Yankees, [Stephen King] bet on the Red Sox in the baseball game,” Dave King said. “Bucky Dent hit his famous blooper, and I won. But Stephen, he’s a Red Sox fan, he refused to recognize that. I’m waiting for my money.”
Stephen King reads before a Boston Red Sox playoff game at Fenway Park in 2004. (Rich Pilling/MLB via Getty Images)
Situated just off Main Street, 2 Feet Brewing was opened nine years ago by Nit-Noi Ricker, who grew up about 12 miles south in Winterport. Stephen King was raised further south in the Portland area, but he opted to use Bangor for what became the most iconic of his fictionalized Maine cities.
“He said that Bangor has a little dark understory,” Ricker said. “He’s like, ‘Portland is like disco and Bangor is rock ‘n’ roll.’”
Set along the Penobscot River, Bangor includes areas renowned for their 19th-century architecture and Greek Revival homes. The area evokes a small-town feel, while offering a vibrant arts and culture scene. There are waterfront concerts, an aquatic center with theme-park-like water slides, and its own “Field of Dreams” with a little-league baseball stadium in the middle of the neighborhood, built courtesy of the Kings.
The city faces the challenges of any urban environment, with traces of homelessness, substance abuse and economic instability. But while Derry is notorious for its violence, Bangor is not.
“It’s very much community based, people watch out for each other, people care about each other,” Ricker said. “I love being here because that’s the feel you get. People come here to visit Maine, they fall in love with how laid back we are, how we have four real seasons, we have the mountains, the rivers, the streams, the lakes. Then they fall in love with the place. And, bonus, Stephen King lived right around the corner.”
The former Morse Covered Bridge – known as “The Kissing Bridge” in “It” – crosses the Kenduskeag Stream. (Mike Gavin)
And sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows King’s name.
The beer menu has King-themed options like the Scottish Ale “You’ll float 2” and the IPA “This is it.” King photos and custom Derry t-shirts cover the walls. King’s birthday was even celebrated in September with a carnival organized by Ricker.
“A town in southern Maine did a Stephen King day back in May, and I was like, ‘Why isn’t Bangor — i.e. Derry, Maine — doing something to honor our most famous resident?’” she said.
It included free carnival games and prizes, a “Pet Sematary” pet parade and a “Derry, Maine Beer Garden” — drawing appeal from residents and sponsors alike for what is expected to become an annual event.
“That’s a clear sign of how much people love him,” Ricker said.
A parade is held during Stephen King’s birthday carnival celebration in Bangor, Maine. (Nit-Noi Ricker)
Ricker said the new show will add to the area’s intrigue.
“They captured the town perfectly,” she said of the first episode, “and I can’t wait to watch it develop.”
That means more tourists crossing paths with locals who have a King story to share.
“Or maybe 50,” Ricker added.
The Tour
SK Tours of Maine takes Stephen King fans on a guided bus tour through the author’s hometown. (Mike Gavin)
Welcome to SK Tours of Maine.
In New York, there’s open-top bus tours to admire skyscrapers. In Chicago, there’s boat tours to see riverfront architecture. In Los Angeles, there’s van tours to gaze at celebrity homes.
In Bangor, there’s Stephen King tours. And they book up early and often by those near and far.
The sprinter bus with a picture of Pennywise on its side has carried passengers from over 40 countries this year alone.
“We’ve met some great people, and the one that just sticks in my mind is we had these people from Siberia,” said Stu Tinker, who founded SK Tours nearly 15 years ago. “And I didn’t say this to them, but I didn’t think anyone got out of Siberia.”
Tinker was first introduced to King in 1974 when the then unknown writer held a book signing at Betts Bookstore in downtown Bangor for his debut novel “Carrie.” Tinker’s wife Penney saw an article in the paper promoting the event and insisted they attend.
“Well, I went down thinking it’s gonna be a 50-cent, 75-cent paperback,” Tinker said. “No, it was a $6 book, and I didn’t want to buy it. It was too much money.”
Penney again insisted. They bought the book, met King and had the course of their lives altered. About 15 years later, the couple bought the bookstore, and King became a customer of theirs. They owned the shop for two decades, eventually moving its location and exclusively selling King books. When they sold the bookstore, Tinker was unsure what his next chapter would be.
“My wife actually suggested, ‘Why don’t you do a tour?’” he said. “Cause we had always handed out little maps of the area and people would go to what they could find. Anyway, it worked out to do a tour. I bought a Town & Country van, just started out real slow. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.”
So big that “The Derry, Maine Tour” chauffeuring visitors to King-inspired locations became a family business, with Tinker’s son, Jamie, and daughter-in-law, Jennifer Millar, taking over.
The couple, at peak times, offers two tours a day, in addition to private tours for up to 10 people. The two-and-a-half hour tour transports readers to King’s pages by visiting locations featured in his work, like the standpipe water tower, the Paul Bunyan statue, Lover’s Leap and the Mount Hope cemetery headstones that sparked character names like Georgie and Carrie, as well as points of inspiration, the house he still owns and other locations that bring Derry to life.
Headstones at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine that inspired the names of Stephen King’s characters. (Mike Gavin)
“I think [King] can take a city block and make you read it and then feel like you know it when you go there,” Jamie Tinker said. “We have a lot of people on the tour when they come here they go, ‘Well, this is exactly how I pictured it cause it’s exactly how he wrote it.’”
The tour is also a history lesson in Bangor’s past, both as the lumber capital of the world and as the setting of some dark non-fiction.
“Stephen borrows tragedy from Bangor and he fits it into Derry,” Millar said.
The standpipe water tower in Bangor, Maine that has been featured in Stephen King’s books. (Mike Gavin)
As much as Bangor embraces King, its corners are not a shrine to him. Non-constant readers can visit without recognizing traces of the neighborhood’s most famous resident, the words he’s written, and the world he’s created.
“You could drive all around Bangor for three days and not see any references to Stephen King,” Millar said. “My mother was a neighbor of Stephen King’s for years, she’s never opened one of his books. She has no idea what we talk about.”
Those seeking Derry will find it, particularly at the SK Tours gift shop, which is complete with a wooded “Pet Sematary” trail, a “Redrum” door, a replica “The Shining” hexagon carpet pattern, a park bench where King regularly sat while writing, and screen-used memorabilia like the 1960 Cadillac used in the movie “Thinner.”
A recreated “Pet Sematary” trail outside the Sk Tours of Maine gift shop in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
The tour’s dedication to the King universe makes repeat customers of visitors like Evie Jacobs from Indiana, who took the tour for the fifth consecutive year.
“I tell people I’m coming to Derry when we’re heading to Bangor,” she said, clutching a photo album filled with photos of her trips. “Our goal is to hit every place connected to Stephen King in Maine.”
Jamie Tinker says the series “Welcome to Derry” will likely rewrite parts of the tour, and he will be taking copious notes while watching.
“I’m impressed at how much detail from the book they’ve gotten into the series so far,” he said. “Even though we’ve only seen two episodes, we’ve already seen things we already talk about on the tour. I’m sure some of the content will be included in future tours as the show develops.”
SK Tours of Maine at Mount Hope Cemetery. (Downtown Bangor Partnership)
Millar has appreciated the nods to movie scenes, book mentions, and particularly, Bangor references.
“Immediately recognizable to some locals,” she said, “but maybe not quite as much to the King fans that don’t understand yet just how much of Bangor’s geography and history goes into the stories King writes.”
That combination helped put Bangor – and Derry – on the map.
“It’s done a lot for Bangor…well, Derry,” Stu Tinker said. “He shows Derry as being a very evil town, which Bangor really isn’t. There’s been some bad things that have happened, like any town. I don’t think anybody’s ever offended by him basing his stories in Bangor. You go places and people find out you’re from Bangor, they ask, ‘Do you know Stephen King?’ And I think everybody in town is that way.”
The Bookstore
A bookshelf at The Briar Patch bookstore in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
Welcome to The Briar Patch.
Inside the bookstore, located in the heart of downtown, is a shelf with a small, hand-written sign that reads “Bangor’s own Stephen King.”
It’s surround by dozens of King’s books, ranging from new releases like “Never Flinch” to local products like “Hearts in Suspension” to classics like “It.”
The latter never stays on the shelf for long, with readers who made their bucket-list trip ensuring the book remains one of the store’s annual best sellers.
“It’s kind of a go-to when you come to Bangor because it takes place right here,” said Gibran Graham, the store’s owner since 2017 and a Bangor resident for nearly three decades. “People like to purchase it while they’re here.”
An authentic Bangor receipt from Briar Patch – or Gerald Winter and Son, another downtown bookstore that specializes in King first editions and memorabilia — certainly makes a perfect bookmark for constant readers.
Gerald Winters and Son bookstore features first-edition Stephen King books and a Georgie-themed windowfront. (Mike Gavin)
The Briar Patch’s foundation has even played a crucial role in Bangor history.
In 1937, when the store was known as Dakin’s Sporting Goods, fugitive members of “The Brady Gang” attempted to buy guns and ammunition. The store owner reported the suspicious purchase to police, leading the FBI to stake out the store. When the men returned, a shootout ensued on Central Street, leaving Al Brady and Clarence Shaffer dead. A historical marker on the curb — labeling Brady as “Public Enemy No. 1” — commemorates the incident.
King, as he does with other tragic events in the area, adapts elements of the incident to Derry, referring to it not as “Brady” but “The Bradley Gang.”
“Art mimics life, but life also mimics art,” Graham said. “I think the readers and the fans that live here, we also sort of make the area become more like his books, too. Not in the deadly scary way, but just the vibe. Just by being fans and embracing it.”
Many have embraced the town’s latest role in the new show.
“It’ll be interesting to see the direction it takes,” Graham said. “I know there’s been a lot of online flack recently about sort of the series demystifying characters like Pennywise, but I think the expansion of the cultural history of Derry and the story in it will be good and entertaining for the fans.”
As long as it sounds like Derry.
“We all sort of flock to the theaters and the screens to make sure that people are using accurate Maine accents and pronouncing words correctly,” he added. “And we’re happy when they do.”
The Downtown
The outskirts of the downtown area in Bangor, Maine. (Courtesy of Downtown Bangor Partnership)
Welcome to Bangor Public Library.
Inside is a small plastic container filled with a stack of library cards. The name and stamp at the top of the cards read “Derry Public Library.”
They’re issued to Derry-seekers who visit the sprawling library with the iconic copper roof. It stands, thanks in part to the generous renovation contributions of Stephen and Tabitha King, as one of the central landmarks of downtown Bangor.
The Bangor Public Library, with its iconic copper roof, is a landmark in the downtown area. (Monique Bouchard)
“I think people, when they come, they’re surprised at the size of the library considering that we only have a population of about 30,000 people,” said Shavaun Rigler, director of development and public relations at Bangor Public Library.
“It’s a very active community that likes to get out and do things for each other and just to celebrate the arts or other community events.”
The Kings have supported libraries across the state of Maine with generous donations for renovations. (Mike Gavin)
The area, with Bangor International Airport a short ride from the downtown strip, is also something of a state hub for those traveling to destinations like Acadia and Bar Harbor.
“Coming to Bangor, you are exposed to so much and you can get to so many different places while you’re here,” said Matt Bishop of the Bangor Historical Society. “Acadia, North Woods, Western Mountains, Portland and southern Maine, it’s a gateway to so many other places. It has one of the oldest continuously operating symphony orchestras, amazing venues for concerts, a cultural scene, and a food scene on the uptick.”
The downtown staples, like Bagel Central and Penobscot Theater Company and Paddy Murphy’s and Kenduskeag Stream, are well known.
New ventures, like Sawyer’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, have recently established themselves, bringing new flavor to the area.
Julianne Sawyer, returned to her native Bangor and opened the shop with her husband after the couple briefly moved to Maui. Their storefront, which opened in May, is just over a mile from the city’s famed 31-foot Paul Bunyan statue. The proximity is notable, given that Sawyer said her grandfather, Chuck Cronin, was the model for the statue before it was erected in 1959.
The famous 31-foot Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
Cronin was a graphic designer who drew logos for local companies that are still used to this day. He also did commercial work for television and radio on the side.
“I think he fit the proportions that they were looking for,” Sawyer said. “He was over six-feet tall and had the build of Paul Bunyan, and so they needed a model, and they were like, ‘Chuck Cronin, would you stand in?’”
The construction of the statue was depicted in the second episode of “Welcome to Derry.”
“It was really cool to see that,” Sawyer said. “I was keeping an eye out for any scenes where they were constructing it to spot a model in the background.”
Now the model’s granddaughter is also standing tall in Bangor as a small-business owner.
“Bangor is a very working-class town,” she said. “The people of Bangor are just very nice people who are very community oriented. So, that’s one of the reasons we like living here.”
The Bangor Public Library offers souvenir library cards for the fictional Derry Public Library. (Mike Gavin)
Like the statue, the downtown area, and the library in particular, are key settings in the novel “It” and recent movies that are now making a return to the screen.
“I love this alter ego,” Bouchard said. “I can’t help but think that Bangor loves to dress up as Derry from time to time and have people come and treat her as a whole different city.”
Like those visitors who come for their souvenir library cards.
“They’re curious if the library matches up to the libraries in Derry,” Rigler said.
The House
Stephen King’s house in Bangor, Maine is a bucket-list destination for his fans. (Mike Gavin)
Welcome to the King house.
The red Victorian mansion on West Broadway is like Graceland for horror fans.
King purchased the house in 1980 and wrote some of his classics within its walls. While the family no longer resides there, the home serves as the author’s personal archive maintained by the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
Fans travel great distances to stand in front of the gargoyle-topped wrought-iron fence that lines the property.
“I took the opportunity because she’s such a huge fan of him,” Soler said. “And I thought it would be the perfect opportunity in front of his house to pop the question.”
Blasquez said the proposal location showed how much her husband-to-be knows about her.
“To get proposed by King’s gate was just the perfect place and time,” she said. “If people find it weird, we say that Stephen always looked for the outcasts, so he surely will look upon us.”
Bruno Soler proposed to Adriana Blasquez in front of Stephen King’s house in Bangor, Maine. (Mike Gavin)
It was a dream come true for Blasquez in more ways than one because it brought her to Derry.
“It allowed me to step into this world that has existed in my mind for so long,” she said. “And it’s exactly as I expected.”
Blasquez praised the production of the show’s early episodes that depicted Bangor six decades prior to their visit.
“They managed to capture that strange calm that the city possesses,” she said.
A “Welcome to Derry” immersive activation at New York Comic Con. (Mike Gavin)
Those who haven’t yet explored Derry beyond their screens and imaginations are left to envision what Bangor is truly like.
“I would say very kind of quaint and cute, but almost like the type of place that you can imagine a secret brewing,” said Maddy Feehan of New York while dressed as Pennywise at New York Comic Con in October. “There’s something kind of spooky in the air.”
Those who have felt that air, or perhaps seen a red balloon floating through it, understand why Bangor is Derry and Derry is Bangor.
“If you know Derry, you know Bangor,” said Louie Sullivan of New Jersey, a King fan at Comic Con who has made the trip to Bangor. “If you are looking for Derry, it’s there, it’s what you would expect to see and what you want to see. All the sites and experiences you would expect, short of being traumatized by an interdimensional clown, they’re all there.”
