Kevin C. Mills

Kevin C. Mills is a product of his own rich maritime history. A love of the ocean and its history has been passed down from numerous Mills generations.

One ancestor was a privateer. Others fought in the Revolution and led the charge at Bunker Hill. A great, great grandfather built the first three-masted schooner of its kind in New England. His great grandfather was the longest serving keeper at Goose Rocks Lighthouse in Penobscot Bay. His grandfather was an assistant keeper at the Rockland Breakwater.

Mills has researched that fascinating history extensively over the last decade. He spent over four years producing a book on his Mills family history. He followed that up with another lengthy project that chronicled the life of his grandfather. He has also transcribed diaries of both his grandfather and great grandfather, which included an account of life on a coastal schooner in 1883.

His two novels continue that work, shaping historical fiction out of his family history.

Sons and Daughters of the Ocean is the first novel for the award-winning journalist, who has spent nearly two decades covering sports from the high school to professional levels for many of New England's top newspapers.

This novel is based loosely on the maritime history of various ancestors. The characters are rooted in true life experiences from the age of sail and portray an accurate account of life many generations ago.

His most recent work, Breakwater, follows the Miller family generations later after Sons and Daughters of the Ocean. Though not a sequel to the first novel, a few characters make return appearances in Breakwater. It is a story of love, faith and tragedy as two members of the Miller family seek to understand the purpose of their lives.

Mills, voted Best Author in the Portland Phoenix online reader’s poll in 2011, also has a nonfiction work called Sidelined. It is a collection of offbeat adventures and experiences from his award-winning journalism career. He provides the story behind the story while taking readers to the sidelines of sports reporting.

Mills is a native of Gorham, Maine and graduated from Gorham High School. He earned an English degree and a minor in Biblical Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.

After working extensively for the college newspaper, where he was a writer and sports editor, Mills embarked on a career in sports journalism.

While in college, he covered high school sports for the Boston Globe, was the sailing writer for the Lynn Daily Evening Item and covered local sports for the Portland Press Herald.

In 1992, he began working for the Lewiston Sun Journal. In addition to being the regular beat writer for the Portland Pirates for 10 years, he has also been responsible for the paper’s award-winning coverage of women’s sports, including soccer, basketball and softball.

He has also freelanced for a variety of other newspapers and magazines.

During his sports journalism career, he has been recognized on numerous occasions by the Maine Press Association and the New England Press Association. He earned awards from the MPA seven times in eight years.

He has also been honored by the Maine Basketball Coaches Association and the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.