About Clifton La Bree A few biographical notes may help you to understand my body of work, for all writings are biographical in nature. I was born in 1933 in the small rural town of Monson, Maine, located in the north Maine woods. There, I learned to respect and admire the independent, self-reliant, and hard-working people that make up the vast majority of these United States. Shortly after World War II started, we moved to York, Maine, close to where my father took a job at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I remember those long years of suffering and uncertainty that accompanied the war with exacting clarity. We moved to Wells, Maine, in 1945 where I graduated from Wells High School in 1951. I attended Boston University for one year and transferred to the University of New Hampshire, graduating with a degree in forestry in 1955. I’ve labored in the profession for all of my adult life and enjoyed every moment. The forest has always been a sanctuary for my soul - a place where I could sort out and resolve problems. It has been, and remains today, a spiritual experience.