Alan James Campbell, known as “AJ” to a wide circle of friends, passed away on June 15, 2018 in Boothbay Harbor, fifteen days before his 76th birthday. He was at his workplace when he collapsed, with no warning, in the parking lot. Immediate attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

AJ was a graduate of Exeter High School, New Hampshire, and after a stint in the U.S. Navy, he decided to follow the advice of a fellow-sailor who said “You should check out Boothbay Harbor – it has a great fishing community with summertime jobs and a lifestyle that can’t be beat anywhere in the world!” And thus he arrived at the place he would call home for the rest of his life.

He was married to June Campbell Rose (nee Webster) for 18 years during which time they raised three sons. AJ worked at Paul Luke’s Boatyard for a year and then opened his Bait and Tackle Shop on Church Street in East Boothbay. He also crafted excellent bamboo fishing rods, carved decoys, worked in scrimshaw, and produced marine-themed pen and ink drawings. He was active with the local tuna-fishing tournaments, fish and game activities, and studied the life cycles of fish, such as the large sea pollock he discovered breeding in the Mill Pond. He stocked the Shackleton Pond at Boothbay Center with baby trout; he developed his own fishing techniques, using fly rods for deep salt water fishing and went lobstering for a time along the Damariscotta River.

Throughout his life, AJ pursued his desire to write, first with articles for Salt Water Sportsman Magazine; and later on, he published a book, “Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle: A Collectors Guide.”

In recent years, AJ was continuing his passion for writing by authoring a series of novels based on medieval history, fulfilling his goal to produce fiction based on probable events by describing a time when knights, Steppe warriors, and mystics worked out their destinies, as in the genre of Merlin and King Arthur. His talent for mixing drama, humor and fantasy – to be woven into a message – was his gift to the every-unfolding future we are in.

AJ has finished his final chapter but he leaves a deep impression that says “follow your dream.”

He was predeceased by his father, Lawrence Nathan Campbell who was serving his country when Alan was born in 1942; and his mother was Violet Sandretto Campbell, of Waterbury, Vermont.

He is survived by his sister, Theresa Campbell Davis of West Virginia; his sons, Nathan Douglas Campbell, Daniel Thomas Campbell and wife Silvia, Jason Leonard Campbell and wife Trisha; grandchildren, Devyn, Kolton, Ryder, Grace and Rose Campbell; and former wife and friend, June Campbell Rose.

The family will announce a time and place for their memorial gathering to celebrate AJ’s life.

Hall’s of Boothbay has care of the arrangements. To extend online condolences, please visit hallfuneralhomes.com