The commonly accepted image of Theodore Roosevelt is that he was a model of masculinity: an adventurer, outdoorsman and soldier who led his regiment, the Rough Riders, into action against the Spanish in the war of 1898. But as a teenager, the young Teddy was regarded as something of a weakling - pale, asthmatic and bespectacled. Then, in 1878, as a 19-year old Harvard student, Roosevelt was sent to Maine's north woods by his family to toughen up. The future president was greatly influenced by a Maine woodsman named Bill Sewall, and their story is the subject of a soon-to-be-published book.

It was at a small settlement called Island Falls in Aroostook County that Teddy Roosevelt first encountered William Wingate Sewall, the legendary upcountry woodsman who was to have a profound influence on the young Roosevelt.

The relationship between these two men of very different backgrounds is chronicled in "Becoming Teddy Roosevelt: How a Maine Guide Inspired America's 26th President," published by Down East Books. The author, Andrew Vietze, is himself a registered Maine guide, as well as an award-winning writer. Vietze says it's surprising that so little has been written about Bill Sewall until now.