To most of the world, the Maine lobsterman is a crusty, retiring soul who'd rather be left alone to do his thing. So what's with these 500 Maine lobstermen who are clamoring to get photographed for next year's edition of the Bachelor Lobsterman calendar?

On the cover of the ... lobsterman calendar.

Joanne Gray, who published the first edition of the calendar this year from her home in Rockland, thinks she knows. "I think that Maine lobstermen have not been recognized," says the taxi driver turned fishcutter turned puppeteer turned publisher. "They're proud to be part of this."

And they don't mind a little attention either. Gray and her husband, Will Cook, never thought the lobstermen would go for the idea the couple cooked up after stumbling on a bachelor festival during a trip to Ireland.

But back home in Rockland, Joanne borrowed a camera from a cousin, wandered down to Rockland Boat and asked for volunteers to pose for the calendar. Right away she had two candidates.

"I was surprised because lobstermen are kind of a quirky bunch," she said. "I never thought I'd get anyone to do this." Next stop was a lobsterman's watering hole. More volunteers stepped forward.

Soon she and Cook and professional photographer Jo Kiermaier of Tenants Harbor had hundreds of slides of 30 lobstermen Ð no skin, just working lobstermen in their working environment.

The first 2000 copies of the calendar disappeared in 11 days. Another 4,000 were ordered. Those are going fast. Between taking orders and packing shipments, Gray is fielding calls from news outlets throughout the country and answering emails from around the world. When ABC's Good Morning America called asking that a few of her subjects appear on the show, she doubted they would cooperate. Wrong. Five lobstermen appeared on the show after ABC spent a day lobstering with them in Port Clyde. Now Jay Leno wants to talk with them.

"They're shameless," says Gray. She can say stuff like that because her husband is Ð or was Ð one of them. He comes from a long line of lobstermen who fished from Little Green Island off Tenants Harbor. On the cover of the 2000 calendar is Albert York, who lobstered with the family for 40 years. "He was the first bachelor lobsterman my husband knew, so he became the cover," Gray said.

Cook tried his hand at fishing, but it just wasn't in him, Gray said. As a matter of fact, she said, "Will was the most pathetic lobsterman on the coast of Maine." Now, in addition to his partnership in Graycook Productions, Cook teaches at the Penobscot School in Rockland.

The couple intends to continue publishing the calendar, but now instead of worrying about finding volunteers they're worrying about how to narrow the 500 volunteers to 12. And they're dealing with the fame that the calendar has brought them.

"I tell you it's a miracle, this whole thing," says Gray. "We're idiots. It's like bingo, and we hit it."

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