Obituary of Stephen R. Allen

Stephen Richard Allen, 81, died on February 14, 2015 at Togus Veterans Hospital in Augusta, Maine. Stephen was a retired journalist, travel writer, and freelance writer. He was born on October. 27, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA, the first child of Charles and Fanny (Hancock) Allen. He grew up in suburban Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. Stephen attended Rutgers University in New Jersey on a state scholarship and graduated with a BA in English in 1956. After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army in Heidelberg, Germany, he attended the University of Missouri Graduate School of Journalism, also on a scholarship. His first journalism job was working as a reporter for the Pottstown Mercury, near Philadelphia. He was married in 1960 to Paula Jordan, a journalism student he met at the University of Missouri, and they had a son, Eriksen, in 1962. He later worked for ten years as a reporter, feature writer, movie critic and columnist for the Courier-Post, a large member of the Gannett chain in southern New Jersey. While there, he was the recipient of numerous national journalism awards. Stephen left the Courier-Post in 1969 and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada because of his opposition to the Vietnam War and his refusal to pay taxes for it. He became editor of the Vancouver city magazine. While there, he also began writing travel articles. His wife Paula drowned in 1970 at the age of 30 in an accident off the coast of South Texas while visiting her mother. In 1975, Stephen and his son Erik moved back to the United States and lived for several years in Bonners Ferry, a small town in northern Idaho, where he became editor of the Bonners Ferry Herald. He and his son also built their own house deep in the forest outside of town. While in Bonners Ferry, Stephen was witness to a history-making event in 1975 when the small Kootenai Indian Nation formally declared war on the United States of America. He later turned this story into a book. Stephen left Idaho in 1976 and moved to Las Vegas, NV, at the invitation of a friend. While there, he became publicity director of the MGM Grand Hotel and later publicity director for the city of Las Vegas. He also worked part-time as a travel writer and was a member of the Society of American Travel Writers. Stephen and Neva Wells, who worked for the former president of Caesars Palace, met at a blind date in Las Vegas in 1986 and have seldom been apart since that time. They were married at Mount Charleston, NV, on Valentine's Day in 1988. From that point on, in addition to her regular job, Neva became the editor of Stephen's writing work. Together they wrote and edited several of the Fodor's Travel Publications books on Las Vegas, Nevada, and Arizona. Stephen and Neva left Las Vegas in 1993 and moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he created and published a monthly tourist/visitor magazine, The Guide. In 2000, they sold the magazine and moved to Maine, settling first in Searsport and then moving to Belfast in September of 2006. Together, they wrote the largest sections of Fodor's Maine Coast, a book idea that Stephen had suggested to Fodor's. The book was updated by them and reissued in 2008 and again in 2010. As a travel writer, Stephen often said that his favorite city was Paris, and he was proud of having visited The City of Light 28 times. After retiring, Stephen worked as an Americorps Vista coordinator at Searsport District High School and later as a substitute teacher at Belfast High School. He also taught a Creative Writing course for adult education first at the Searsport District High School and then at the Belfast High School. In addition to reading, Stephen enjoyed playing the piano for his wife and was proud of being a self-taught musician. He also was a member of the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, and in his spare time he wrote 14 e-books for Amazon Kindle. He is survived by his beloved wife Neva of Belfast; his son Eriksen, of Richmond, CA; his sister Sandra, of Magnolia, DE; his brother David, of Maple Shade, NJ, and his loving cats VincentVan Gogh (Vinny) and Joey. A Celebration of Life service will be held at a later date and place to be announced.