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Joanne Miller's avatar

This piece particularly touched me. I’m sorry you will miss going to Maine this year. I hope there are other visits in your future. I have been going to Maine for 73 years for vacations. My mother was from Maine and I still have cousins living there. It is quite simply a beautiful place to take in the beach, ocean, lakes, mountains and rivers. I’ve seen changes in the climate in recent years. It used to be much cooler with freezing cold water. Now temperatures can be hot and the ocean water is much warmer. But on a beautiful, clear, crisp day in Maine there is something that touches your soul.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

It certainly does, Joanne!

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Catherine Lane Diehl's avatar

So sad to hear this. Daughter Caki and I have come to love Maine. The landscape, the food, the people and I cannot say enough about Maine Media and especially your memoir writing class. I wouldn't have know about it unless I had seen it on Nancy Harmon Jenkins Facebook page. I wish there had been more publicity and I for one would be happy reccommend any of your teaching classes. The course was incredibly worthwhile!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Thanks, Catherine! I had a great run, and I can't complain. I'm trying to get back next year. I hope your writing is going well!

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Charles Salzberg's avatar

Lovely piece, Richard. As a kid, at sleep away camp, I spent 8 it 9 summers near Casco, Maine. And I remember them fondly, especially about now, when the mornings were so nippy, we had to wear flannel shirts, until later that morning when the sun warmed the crisp air. And we got to travel a little within the state: Naples, Kennebunkport. I’m really sorry the class didn’t fill. Both your losses, I think.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Thanks, Charles! There’s always next year!

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Jody Lisberger's avatar

I also love Maine. Mike and I were lucky enough this year to rent a cottage right on Biscay Pond, with a dock and canoe and loons. My kids, when they were young, always said "at Maine." A state of mind. Indeed. I'm so sorry you couldn't go to Rockport and teach for your workshop.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

I had a great run! Cannot complain. Maybe next year!

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Elizabeth Godfrey's avatar

Lyrical descriptions! An acquaintance invited us to Monhegan Island years ago. He was from out west, but said his soul immediately recognized this place as home. We rode a tiny Boston Whaler "ferry" out past several islands to visit him. We sat on his rotting deck drinking, eating lobster and watching the fog swallow the scenery. That memory seems more Maine to me than Acadia, special as all those pink granite rocks and tidal pools are.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

It's a gorgeous place!

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Brian Willson's avatar

Will miss seeing you on the hill!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

I always look forward to that. I'll have to settle for your splendid photographs.

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Gary Gruber's avatar

There are many special places in Maine, none as crowded as Mt. Desert and Acadia National Park in summertime. One of our favorite spots to visit that we discovered, because a friend lived there, is Brooklin. It was also home to E.B. and Katherine White.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Yes, I've been to Brooklin!

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Ada Jo Mann's avatar

Maine is a special place for me as well. I spent many wonderful summers there as a camper. I paddled many of its lakes and climbed many mountains including Mt. Katahdin. It's where I learned my appreciation of nature and my love of pine trees. And I'm very excited about returning for a nostalgic visit in just one week. Thanks for the memories!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Beautiful place. Where exactly are you going?

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Laura O'Keefe's avatar

Very evocative, Richard, as so much of your writing is. I haven't been in Maine in many years, but I remember how beautiful the coastline is, and I can feel how meaningful it is to you.

For me, it's another seacoast, the one along Marin County, California, where I grew up. It always seems funny to be when people assume that as a Californian, I must've gone to the beach a lot. To Northern Californians, "the beach" is usually a place for sweaters and jeans: wind-battered, fog-covered, the water much too cold for swimming, and with a dangerous undertow and the occasional great white shark as well. But it's wonderful to hike along the cliffs above it, watching for whales and seals in the water, hawks and falcons overhead, and deer, coyotes, and bobcats sharing the land with us.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Thanks, Laura. Do you ever think of moving back to California?

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