Letters to the Editor
Where in Maine?As I leafed through my December issue, my heart skipped a beat when I instantly recognized the location of your "Where in Maine?" photograph to be Islesboro's Grindel Point, where the ferry Margaret Chase Smith docks. Islesboro is the birthplace of my mother, the summer meeting place of cousins too numerous to mention, the site of the most unique Fourth of July parade you'll ever see, and unforgettable, breathtaking sunsets all year-round. We have a view of this very lighthouse in our family room here in Connecticut in the form of an original oil painting by artist Dick Pulliam (whose artwork has graced the cover of Down East). Thank you for this unexpected and welcome sight of home!
--Carol Hartley Rooney
Darien, Connecticut
I will never forget the ferry trip to Islesboro when I was sixteen years old. Our high school basketball team spent the night with the gracious families of our rivals, returning on the ferry to the mainland the following day. I don't remember who won the games, but I do remember it was winter, as depicted in your mystery photo.
--Jean Edwards
Appleton, Maine
Mad Over MoveOn
Your December interview with Moveon. org's Eli Pariser paints a warm and fuzzy picture of an unhinged radical leftist who is motivated by a hatred of capitalism and "all things Bush." How odd that the interview does not include any challenging questions for such a controversial figure in American politics?
No doubt Pariser is a highly skilled individual who is an adept fund-raiser and a clever motivator for millions of disaffected liberals. But there is no educating Moveon.org people like Eli Pariser. They are a vicious, tunnel-visioned people who only embrace hate and divisiveness. When challenged, they don't accept explanations that are valid. They don't accept proof that is verified. They even make up facts and deceive all in the name of "anybody but Bush."
Unfortunately, the fact that Pariser claims a whopping 22,000 Moveon.org members in Maine does not bode well for the future of the Pine Tree State. With this kind of major leftist groundswell, Mainers can be sure to fall deeper and deeper into a high tax and social welfare malaise where much-needed job-creating policies and a free enterprise system are crippled or destroyed.
--Kevin Punsky
Jacksonville, Florida
Thanks for Noticing
Recently, I noticed that Down East had a new attractiveness, something fresh and more interesting. I'm not sure if it is the layout or the bolder photographs, but I have been reading your magazine since we moved to Maine ten years ago and something is different and better.
--Margot Stiassni-Sieracki
Edgecomb, Maine
150 and Counting...
Another reason to give thanks that I live in Maine (at least part of the year): As of November 8, we no longer discriminate against people for simply being who they are. If that's not rock-solid Maine common sense, I don't know what is.
--Hugh Kennedy
Cambridge, Massachusetts
