


And that’s not going to change.With new laws passing in June to give bars and cafes the option to go al fresco all year round, the nation’s love of a hot brew isn’t going anywhere, so which destinations should be a “must visit” on any coffee lover’s list? “The whole reason I loved this job is that I got to entertain people, one stop at a time,” Cook said. He may be retired now, but the show isn’t over for Cook. “I always used to just make things up as I went along, but now I’m actually writing jokes.” “It’s not such a big step from the jokes I’d tell on the road,” Cook said. He intends to try out some of his material during Stonington’s Fourth of July celebrations, where he will serve as grand marshal of the parade. He’s also going to try his hand at standup comedy, something he’s always wanted to try but never officially did until a few years ago at an open mic. At the lobster boil he threw last week in Stonington, he asked people to bring him neck ties he could wear for his new gig. His major plans include spending the summer working part-time as the maitre’d at Aragosta at Goose Cove, the fine dining restaurant in Deer Isle owned and operated by his pal, chef Devin Finigan. “You’re another pair of eyes on the ground.”Ĭook has spent the past few months preparing for his post-UPS life. “It just comes with the territory,” he said. Cook has chased after runaway dogs, called the police on attempted burglaries, and one time came to the aid of a woman who had collapsed in her driveway on a below-zero day.

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“Soon even our dogs welcomed a visit, delivery and special treat.”Ĭook said that most UPS drivers have an unofficial code of honor they live by, to keep an eye on the properties to which they deliver. “I was delighted to cross paths again with my friend dressed in brown, this time as one of the island’s most beloved delivery drivers,” Wixson said. He’s intimately familiar with each winding back road on the islands and the people who live there - including Wixson, who moved her business to Stonington in 2013. On those close-knit islands, he’s found a second family, though he still lives in Bangor year-round, and his daughter, Jensen Cook, lives in Portland. His first route was a place he was already very familiar with: the University of Maine campus, from which he’d just graduated in 1986.Ī post shared by Liz Perez 2011, Cook made his final route transfer, delivering in Deer Isle and Stonington. He didn’t realize that, at age 24, he’d found his career. After a year spent sorting packages, when a driving position became available, he snapped up the job. In college at UMaine, Cook was looking for a job he could do part-time to help pay for school, and happened across a listing for overnight shifts at the UPS hub in Brewer.
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“I was a street kid, kind of, and I had to dodge other kids and my siblings and learn how to get away with stuff,” Cook said. As the youngest of five, he credits his innate gregariousness and observational nature to the fact that he was the baby of the family, in what sometimes could be a rough and tumble part of town. Whether in downtown Bangor or down a narrow island road in Stonington, people have come to expect an enthusiastic wave, barrage of jokes or quick check-in from Jimmy the UPS Guy.Ĭook grew up in the Capehart neighborhood in Bangor, in a large, working-class Irish Catholic family. Having delivered in towns and cities through Penobscot and Hancock counties since he started driving in 1986, Cook, 60, has friends all over eastern Maine. Cook recently retired after 36 years driving for UPS. Jimmy Cook, enjoying a coffee break at 44 North in Deer Isle, accompanied by the owner’s dog, Clover.
