HALLOWELL – Legendary canoeist, writer, and teacher Fern Crossland Stearns, 90, died peacefully on April 14, 2024, surrounded by family. Fern Ederie Crossland was born in Mexico, Maine, on Aug. 8, 1933, the daughter of Pearl (McLennan) and Byron Crossland. Fern grew up on Hillcrest Dairy Farm on Thompson Hill in Mexico, along with her siblings Lloyd, Burton, Joyce, and Gail.

Fern married William F. Stearns of Rumford in 1959. Bill and Fern honeymooned with a canoe camping trip on the Machias River, beginning what became a lifetime of leadership in Maine’s paddling and river advocacy communities. She fought for free-flowing and wild rivers and championed the sports of wilderness canoeing and whitewater canoe racing.

Fern and Bill raced in the second Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race in 1968, and every year thereafter for decades. She was formally recognized as a Legend of Paddling by the organizers of that race. Fern and Bill were principal founders of Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society that today gives an annual award in her name. Fern and Bill were instrumental in expanding whitewater racing, frequently winning the national crown in their class. The Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization honored her with The Muir the Merrier award for drawing people into canoeing. In the 1970s Fern and Bill participated in the Allagash Dash, paddling the Wilderness Waterway in fewer than 20 hours. In 1974, they guided a team of canoeists from federal and state agencies in a study of the Penobscot River’s eligibility for designation as a Wild and Scenic River.

Fern tenaciously opposed dams on wild rivers, organizing paddlers to oppose the Dickey-Lincoln and Big Ambejackmockamus proposals.

She authored scores of articles and columns on canoeing and river advocacy for Maine Sportsman, Maine Life, Northeast Outdoors, Wooden Boat, Maine Sunday Telegram, Bangor Daily News, Penobscot Times, and other publications. Fern and Bill authored The Canoeist’s Catalog in 1978.

Her writing and activism went far beyond paddling. Along with her siblings, she co-authored two volumes of books titled Once Upon A Farm. She championed issues through articles and columns ranging from carbon taxation to folklife to same-sex marriage. Fern’s personal, athletic, and professional interests often brought her into conflict with gender roles in the 1950s and later, and she did not suffer fools gladly.

A physics major, Fern met Bill in math class at the University of Maine at Orono (UMO). Both joined the math faculty of UMO in the 1950s, and both retired from UMO in 1997. She also taught at many other schools including Mexico High School, Beals College, Husson College, and UM Bangor variably named. Fern and Bill raised their children in Old Town, later moving to ponds in Milford and Orland. Fern later moved to Hallowell.

Fern is survived by her sister, Gail Parent of Hanover; her sister-in-law, Carol Stearns Clement of Rockland; and her children and grandchildren: daughter, Kathleen Friday and her husband, J.B., of Hilo, Hawaii, and their children, Nathanael and Hilda; son, David of Blue Hill, and his children, Aidan and Liam; daughter, Laurie Sproul and her husband, Mike, of Brownville, and Mike’s children, Travis, Hillary and stepson, Ian; and son, Alan and his husband, Austin Brown, of Hallowell. She is beloved by many nieces, nephews and other relatives in the Crossland and Clement families.

A celebration of Fern’s life is planned on June 1, at 1 p.m. at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell.

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