Like many readers of the Portland Press Herald, I am greatly saddened by the tragic and untimely loss of Michael Harmon.

Although I never met Michael, which I regret, I feel that I knew him a bit from several email exchanges and one phone conversation we had, when he was on the staff of the Editorial Department, involving a couple of my columns that ran in Maine Voices, and regarding my comments on a few of his columns.

He was very gracious, and I felt a kinship. We were both western Pennsylvania boys, both Vietnam veterans, both students of history, both interested in the science-religion interface, and both were that rare breed: southern Maine conservative.

Editorial Page Editor Greg Kesich’s comment in the paper that Michael Harmon “spoke to a number of people in the readership who may have otherwise been left out of the conversation” is an understatement – he was the only regular local conservative voice in the Press Herald, for as long as I can remember, and he carried that charge exceedingly well with writing that sparkled in both substance and style. He more than held his own, sharing the same page with the likes of Charles Krauthammer and George Will, no small feat.

My thoughts are with his family and friends and his colleagues at the paper. You have big shoes to fill.

Charles Todorich

South Portland

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