Let’s take a time out this week to celebrate the 300th birthday of this column. That means I’ve poured — some might say splattered or thrown — about 210,000 words into the effort, enough for three novels. Herewith, some reflections.

Thanks to readers who have taken the time to comment on a specific column or simply to say, “I like what you write.” One man appreciated my column on alcoholism, noting that his mother was an alcoholic. An avid gun owner thanked me for writing a “very balanced column” on gun control. One person liked a column that recommended several books, saying that she was plowing through the list. One reader said, “I like ‘some’ of your columns, with pointed emphasis on the word ‘some’.” (I’m guessing she was a Republican.) One person gave a high compliment when he wrote that, “You always give the wider perspective.” I very rarely get a negative comment but then again, this is liberal Brunswick, Maine, not Tupelo, Mississippi.

Several readers have said that a column triggered a fond memory. For example, my recent column on “My Friend Pete” (Pete Seaver) prompted a fellow Bowdoin graduate (Peter Stackpole) to send along a recollection. As a freshman, he went to the Curtis Swimming Pool to take the required swim test which entailed swimming four laps. He had done some competitive swimming in the past, but not in high school. He swam the first lap using the butterfly stroke, and Pete Seaver — who was the pool monitor that day — began gesticulating wildly. After the freshman finished, Pete Seaver told him that the boy who swam the butterfly on the team would be graduating, and he urged Peter Stackpole to come out for the team. Thus encouraged, Stackpole went out for the team. He ultimately broke pool and college records in the 100 and 200 yard butterfly.

Several people have asked how I come up with ideas. Well, I try to choose some personal reflection or local citizen or organization or societal trend that might interest the reader. The Trump presidency has weakened my resolve not to write too often about politics. I will continue to point out his massive deficiencies from time to time, because our very democracy is at stake. I won’t sway hard-core, Kool Aid-swilling Trump supporters, but I

just might convince a few longstanding Republican voters to vote for Biden in November. One reader sent along some Bible verses in the apparent hope that I would stop bashing white Christian evangelicals who voted for Trump. Sorry, they deserve bashing given the unbelievable hypocrisy of their choice.

I should give a shout out to my parents for bringing me to this place, so to speak. My mother encouraged my reading and writing and did published much writing herself. My dad wrote a weekly bridge column for several years in Parkersburg, West Virginia. And, of course, Google deserves a shout out. How easy it now is to find information on any given topic or to look up who said this or that quote or to find out more about X or Y person.

I plan to continue writing this column as long as the editor will have me. That said, I hope to get more input from readers on a particular column or specific ideas worth considering for future columns. I hope to write more profiles of young people who are making a real difference in the community and beyond.

As everyone knows, printed newspapers are facing real financial challenges in the digital age. Very few young people read newspapers. Too many older people drop their subscriptions; those same people complain that some on-line newspapers won’t let you read their articles for free, without subscribing. (A brief pause for head scratching.)

For these reasons, I hope that more readers will take the time to write letters to the Times Record editor or opinion pieces on any subject — local, regional or national. Also, I hope you will encourage your friends and neighbors to subscribe — or at the very least to buy the weekend edition.

Again…thanks for reading. May I be around long enough to write 300 more columns.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.

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