The Declaration of Independence, ratified on July 4, 1776, has some nice words. “All men are created equal, that they are endowed … with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the […]

For many years I worked in Germany. Over the years, I developed a strange ability. I could meet someone in Germany and know almost instantly whether they had grown up in the East or the West. I never understood how. I kept asking my friends why. They just smiled. One February night, with the temperature […]

My husband and I  have had two close encounters with Barry Manilow, who played his final Portland concert on July 3. On a book tour, we were having lunch in Los Angeles with a Penguin representative who had been sent to see us through our first media interviews. Manilow was at a table close by […]

I was saddened to see that our great state was not represented at a celebration of our country’s 250th birthday, the Great American State Fair. Oh, there was a booth for us. It said Maine on the wall, but the space was more or less empty. No people, no agriculture, no products, no lobster, no culture, no […]

Bill Bridgeo, who was an Augusta city manager and is now state representative for District 60, points out that property taxes are making it difficult for many to get by (“The time for property tax reform in Maine is now,” July 2). He suggests that primary residences be taxed at a lower rate than some […]