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Joyce Maynard on True Love and Loss; What is N.H.'s Signature Dish?

Joyce Maynard longed for a great romance. A passionate partner -- and one who wouldn't interfere with the fierce independence she'd cultivated over decades as a writer.

She found that romance, later in life, but her marriage ended up teaching her the true meaning of partnership and self-sacrifice. Virginia Prescott speaks with Maynard about her newest book, "The Best of Us," where she chronicles her marriage to Jim Barringer, and their fight against the cancer that took his life.

Virginia also speaks with Janice Lewis, a matchmaker with "Together of New Hampshire," who's been doing things the old-fashioned way for three decades. 

Then, we tackle a listener question about New Hampshire's signature dish... or lack thereof. Could it be that "boiled dinner" is closest thing we've got to a Granite State specialty? Or is it time to claim something a little sweeter as our own?

  • A modern-day matchmaker with "Together New Hampshire" uses old-school techniques to help her clientele find love later in life.
  • Virginia Prescott speaks with author Joyce Maynard about discovering real partnership as her husband struggled with, and succumbed to, cancer.
  • You Asked, We Answered: Does New Hampshire Actually Have Any Signature Foods? An investigation of the hardscrabble boiled dinner, "White Mountain Cake," and the dish that could be New Hampshire's own... with a little push from the producers at Word of Mouth.
Hannah McCarthy first came to NHPR an intern in 2015, returned as a Fellow the following year and then bounced around as a reporter and producer before landing as co-host of Civics 101. She has reported on everything from the opioid epidemic to State House politics to haunted woods of New Hampshire.
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