During October, one hundred copies of “The Brown Nosed Camel,” a chapbook of poetry, self published by John Benoit, of Manchester, raised $2,000 for Maine’s Alzheimer’s Association in Scarborough, according to a news release from Benoit. The book was gifted in exchange for donations. In 2009, Benoit’s book of doggerel verse raised $3,500 in sales for the Maine Chapter conducted by him.

Creative art work in the book was provided by water color artist, David Silsby, of Manchester. Silsby’s paintings appear in libraries, churches, and private homes in Augusta, as well as in a variety of Maine public buildings, including the Maine Law School, Portland. For many years, Silsby held the office of Reviser of Statutes for the Maine Legislature.

In his prior life, Benoit served Maine people in the three branches of state government, as an Assistant Attorney General, Deputy AG, District Court Judge and State Senator over 35 years. During the Korean War, he served three years in the Marine Corps as a ground-school instrument flight instructor, according to the release.

Motivation for these fund-raising events is Benoit’s wife of 56 years, Judy, a three-year resident at Clover Health Care, in Auburn, challenged 17 years by the disease. Benoit said, “She’s the source of my strength as well as that of our three children and six grandchildren. She’s also a 35-year breast-cancer survivor,” in the release.

Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in America. It affects 5 million. Alzheimer’s and other dementia cost $259 billion this year. Family care-givers save additional billions in government health care costs.