Skidompha Library’s Chats with Champions will feature author Kay Tobler Liss at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 25.

Kay Tobler Liss’ first novel, “The Last Resort,” follows Paul, a lawyer who flees his mundane city life to quiet, windy off-season Montauk. Soon Paul befriends a group of Indigenous Montauk people and helps them fight to protect their ancestral land from development and privatization.

Though the plot details of “The Last Resort” and its characters are fictional, the impetus for the novel came from Liss’ own work with conservation groups during her time living in Montauk.

Working alongside Indigenous Montauks, Liss and local environmental organizations fought a development plan that would privatize park lands. Ultimately, Liss’ allies defeated the plan and built a nature center to celebrate the land and educate visitors about Montauk’s natural history.

The book is deeply researched, and Liss weaves in the true history of the Montauk people, including references to real historical figures. The research was a labor of love for Liss, who said she has had a lifelong fascination with Indigenous cultures and traditions.

Liss has worked as a journalist in New York and Maine. She studied literature at Bard College and environmental studies at Southampton College and taught both subjects. She and her husband live in Jefferson.

All those wishing to attend this online Chat, through Zoom, may visit Skidompha’s website to sign up (www.skidompha.org). Those attending will be emailed a link prior to the event. 

Chats with Champions is a free community offering from your national award-winning Skidompha Library at 184 Main Street, Damariscotta, Maine. This program is generously sponsored by Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop. For more information, please call the Library at 207-563-5513.