Ernest DeRaps, 80, is a man with a mission.

A former lighthouse keeper, De- Raps and his wife, Pauline, wrote a charming book about their family’s experiences living at working lighthouse stations — a way of life that has since passed into history.

He did half the book, and she wrote the other half.

To read his recollections, one held the book one way; to read hers, one flipped the book over and turned it upside down.

His side was called “Lighthouse Keeping”; hers was called “Light Housekeeping.”

Though they began the project for their children and grandchildren so that they would know what that part of Maine’s storied coastal history was like, the book was popular immediately, and sold out.

DeRaps and his wife have one copy left.

They’d love to republish it.

Three of their six children were born while they were serving at lighthouse stations, which they did for 20 years.

Prior to that, DeRaps was in the Coast Guard for 28 years. Through all that time, he’s drawn and painted, and is especially fond of lighthouses.

So DeRaps decided to do a painting of every lighthouse in Maine, in acrylics on canvas board, and sell the paintings so they could raise the funds for the book project.

The show was mounted at the Merrymeeting Arts Center, in Bowdoinham. Unfortunately, attendance was light and DeRaps sold only two of the 65 paintings.

The show ends at the end of September; he’s hopeful that more people will come to see the undertaking, housed in the long gallery.

The very charm of the project — a complete artists’ record of every Maine lighthouse — makes it difficult to find a home for the exhibit.

The show will be open Saturday during Bowdoinham Day, through Sept. 30. Merrymeeting Arts Center is located at the waterfront park at Routes 125 and 24.