Marshall "Mike" Dodge stands undeniably as a godfather of Down East humor, bringing an energy and imagination to the stage that took him from a small Connecticut studio to his standing as the premier "New England" humorist of his era, before he was tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver in Hawaii in 1982. It was at Yale in 1958 that he and Bob Bryan cut the first "Bert and I" album and launched what is now a Maine icon. Robert Bryan helped launch "Bert and I" with Dodge in part by drawing upon his memories from childhood summers spent at Tunk Lake, where he was fascinated by the area's stories and storytellers. Like Dodge, Bob was born and raised in New York and graduated from Yale. Unlike Dodge, who continued as full-time performer, the Rev. Robert A. Bryan used earnings from the early records in the 1960s to help launch and grow another dream the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, which provides support to remote communities.