Maine’s ‘humble Farmer’ Robert Skoglund has died

Maine radio personality and humorist Robert Skoglund of St. George, who went by “the humble Farmer,” has died, his stepdaughter confirmed on Saturday.

He was 88 years old.

A musician who played piano, clarinet and bass, and spoke multiple languages, Skoglund was probably best known for his radio show, “The humble Farmer,” which aired on Maine Public Radio from 1978 to 2007.

The show used a simple format, described in a 2009 BDN profile as “old-time jazz interspersed with tightly scripted rants delivered in a deadpan Maine accent that’s as thick as the rolling coastal fog.”

His storytelling prompted comparisons to Garrison Keilor, and his dry, sharp wit, evident in his written columns and letters to the editor, often recalled Mark Twain.

In 2008, he started a “humble Farmer” television show that was broadcast on community access stations around Maine and as far away as Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

He also wrote a column for the Portland Press Herald and produced a humble Farmer television show for Belfast Community TV.

He published two collections of his writings, in 2017 and 2022, both titled “Chicken Poop for the Reader’s Soil.”