Mary Lou Teel is a storyteller.

As producer of CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” Teel and her team bring viewers stories about people.

“CBS Sunday Morning is basically about the good things, the triumphs over adversity, the things that people do that make you feel good about human nature,” Teel, of Boothbay, said. “My favorite stories are those about someone up against extreme odds that you think would crush someone, but they figure out a way to transcend that. Those stories are inspiring.”

Teel, who majored in comparative French and Russian literature in college, had the great fortune of learning how to be a journalist from three of the masters: Harry Reasoner, Charles Kuralt and Mike Wallace. Her journey began in March of 1979, when she landed a desk assistant job at CBS News Radio working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift.

She eventually started writing essays and features and moved to special events writing for Kuralt, whom she calls her mentor.

“Charles had the amazing ability to understand his own voice in what you wrote and would rewrite it only if he could make it better,” Teel said. “He would drop his glasses down on his nose and be in deep concentration for a few minutes. He'd cross out five words and write three, and I'd go aghhh! that's what I was trying to say — for weeks. It was a real education. He didn't dole out the praise. But, I wrote a story about a kid learning to ride a bike and he wrote 'I love this one' on the page with a smiley face and exclamation point — and no changes. I was set for a year!”

Teel says CBS News Radio was “an excellent apprenticeship.”

In radio, researching and writing had to be completed quickly and accurately because there were many more pieces to write on a daily basis. Wallace, whom she remembers as being intimidating and a bit of a hard task master, expected her to “kick ass” every week, to come up with something he hadn't heard of. At 24, she couldn't fathom how she could do anything that Wallace hadn't already done.

“In this book, ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell, the author analyzes success and talks about the 10,000 hours that have to be put in whether you are the Beatles or Bill Gates; That it’s not just talent you need to make it; you have to put in the time, he said, and that time was 10,000 hours; CBS radio was my 10,000 hours,” Teel said.

Kuralt asked Teel to move over to “Sunday Morning” in 1985 as a writer, a move she says was “a perfect fit from the start.”

Teel wrote Kuralt's copy; and when other people wrote for him, Teel rewrote those pieces to suit him.

Because she had to produce material all the time in radio, she found working on one story for a week in television easier for her than others without that background. After a few years she produced a few things and then decided that was the direction she wanted to move toward.

Since her move to CBS “Sunday Morning,” Teel has produced more than 500 television stories. Among her favorite assignments, over about a dozen years, was producing “Postcards from Maine” with Tim Sample.

Sometimes she came to Maine with other reporters, a trip to Benner Island in 1987 with Charles Osgood was one such time.

Teel and Osgood traveled to the island to do a profile on Andrew Wyeth when he turned 80. It is not only one of her favorite stories, but one of her favorite days: the day she walked into “Wyeth World.”

The team was greeted by the caretaker, who informed them that Betsy (Mrs. Wyeth) said they could go anywhere on the island, but Betsy had suggested the living room.

“So we went to the living room,” said Teel, laughing. “She came in looking so elegant, looking like Jackie Kennedy. There's a famous NC Wyeth painting of Teel Island (in Knox County) called “Island Funeral” (1939). There's an oar from Teel Island over the fireplace Her first question to me was if I was related to Rufus Teel. I said it was possible. I think that's why I got the interview.”

Word came down that Andrew Wyeth was in his studio working and if they wanted to come up …

“I was like … Yeah! It was crazy. No one had ever gone to Andrew's studio. We ran up to his studio and Andrew was drawing the caretaker's daughter who was about 16 or 17. She was sitting on a stool with her shirt off. He was working away. He and Izzy (Bleckman, cameraman) struck up a conversation about a sculpture of Paul Revere by (Jean-Antoine) Houdon and bonded over that. They were both fans of Houdon’s work.”

“He said, ‘I never let anyone in here before to take moving pictures of me …  you will use them  … if you've got the guts!'  We all started laughing,” Teel said.

Teel said they did use the photos Bleckman took, although there were some questions from the higher ups as to whether they would use them or not, with just the right camera angles.

“Magical things happen like that,” Teel said.

“Postcards from Maine” was a favorite gig and many of her best loved stories were from the Boothbay region where she visited as a child.

Her great grandfather, Howard Teel, owned the golf course in the 1920s and lived in the former Kenniston Hill Inn. Her grandparents, Guy and Dorothy Teel, owned a cottage on Townsend Gut which now belongs to the Nutts.   Her other great grandfather, Allan Sturges, owned the cottage that now belongs to Carol Buxton. Her father, Allan, brought his family here during the summers to a cottage on Linekin Bay, including her brothers: Jeff Teel, owner of The Inns at Greenleaf Lane in Boothbay Harbor; Allan “Chip” Teel, a physician in Damariscotta, Steve, who is installing solar panels around the region; Chris, who works at Bath Iron Works, and sister, Nancy, an artist in Farmington who also works for the United Way helping homeowners in western Maine winterize their homes.

During her college years she worked at the Spruce Point Inn for John Druce. All the while she was working and living in New York City, she dreamed of getting back to Boothbay. In 1985, she purchased a home here.

“Charles came up with the idea (‘Postcards from Maine,’) he always came here and stayed at Brown's Wharf. We did a piece on storytelling with Eliot Winslow, one on Gus Pratt and his grilled cheese sandwiches and pies; the Cozy Harbor sailing school and Fishermen's Festival,” Teel said. “My favorite ‘Postcards’ was when we got all these old Mainers to confess they were really born in Massachusetts; Eliot and Gus confessed.”

Teel said the “Postcards From Maine” were the closest things to what Charles Kuralt did with his “On the Road.”

One story about overcoming adversity (with a twist) that Teel produced was about a man who was blinded at three when his corneas were burned.

Mike May went on to hold, and still holds, the downhill skiing record for one who is completely blind, serve in the Peace Corps, marry and become a father. When he was in his forties, he had the opportunity to have a risky operation using stem cells, which could bring back his sight. He had the operation and it brought new joys and challenges. He could watch the stars with his two sons, but could not distinguish their faces. He could see movement and colors, but lacked depth perception. With his limited vision he had to relearn not only how to ski, but how to see.

What Teel loves about TV is that it is a team sport.

After working with Bleckman on “Postcards from Maine,” she now works with  “equally amazing” cameraman, Mike Hernandez, who shoots many of the “Sunday Morning” stories, and has a team of writers and editors.

Teel sets up the logistics for an episode and makes sure everyone is prepped for the assignment.

Sometimes when writing a piece, she collaborates with the reporter (her favorite way to tell a story) “tossing things around.”

“Its always surprising,” Teel said. "Whatever you think you know (about a subject) because you've done your research, you can get to that interview and something you didn't even imagine pops up that is more interesting ... it's a gift."