Graham Platner is my friend. His mother runs a local restaurant. His father was lawyer for me and my neighbors until he retired, handling title searches, divorces, wills and bankruptcies. He was the closest thing to Atticus Finch we had in Ellsworth.

When I needed new chain on my mooring last June, I asked Graham for help; he drove his boat over, suited up, dove down and fixed things up for me. That’s the kind of neighbor he is.  

Mainers know a good man when we meet him. Thousands have had that honor. Graham would insist that the honor was his, to meet and listen to good people in troubled times. Graham’s friends — old and new — will stay the course and do our best to elect this man to do his best for all of us.  

I saw his pirate tattoo when he put on his wetsuit. The skull and crossbones appear in graveyards across New England, often with “Memento Mori,” meaning “Remember death,” an important thought for a soldier, or any of us, to remember.  

Skull and Bones is a famous secret society at Yale. Its members are not called Nazis, nor are the Knights Templar, nor Freemasons nor many fraternities that use that symbol and similar. 

The powers that be want to discredit my friend Graham. They will have to do better. But we will hold fast — like the new mooring chain Graham fixed for me.

Newbold Noyes
Sorrento