Editor’s Note: Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in […]

Christmas is the day that holds all time together. — Alexander Smith, Scottish poet and essayist (1830-1867)

If you happen to tune to WCME 900AM starting at noon Christmas Eve, you can hear James Taylor and Natalie Cole’s cover of “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Stay tuned and you’ll hear another version, and then another, and yet another. The Brunswick-based station has announced it has gathered as many versions of Frank Loesser’s duet […]

I’ve recently written about our local history, so now please indulge me. Here are some memories of West Virginia, the state where I spent my formative years (1950-58). Most people know little about West Virginia beyond stereotypes (poor, coal country, hillbillies, drug addicts) and a joke or two (e.g. What’s the West Virginia state bird? […]

Except for three years in the Army, I’ve lived my entire life in Maine. One would surmise that after seven decades experiencing Maine winters, they wouldn’t come as a surprise. However, for some inexplicable reason the first significant winter storm always seems to catch me unprepared. I’m not alone. A few inches of white stuff […]

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and that has nothing to do with the tax bill. While the Washington debate has focused on the size of tax breaks and who will get them, the tax overhaul takes place against a background of major growth in the gap in family assets […]