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So, this is what retirement looks like:
If all goes well, I hope to be playing a role in the near-term purchase of Masthead Maine, the parent company of the Portland Press Herald along with four other daily newspapers and a number of weekly publications. Our small but mighty Maine Journalism Foundation Board, of which I am one of three founding members, hopes to run these papers as a not-for-profit operation benefiting the people of Maine. Why on earth would we want to do this and how the heck did I get involved? Let me explain.
Sometime during my grammar school years, I wrote a brief op-ed in my local paper lamenting the sorry state of our local roads. If I recall correctly, potholes were my frustration and focus. I do not remember exactly what motivated me to write this piece, but I have never forgotten the ripple of impact that small, two-paragraph essay had on my sense of community and place.
Fast forward to my somewhat recent retirement and move to my new home state of Maine. It might seem strange for a person so invested in a four-decade career in television to be jumping into the deep end of “traditional journalism,” but I have always felt strongly that, in order to thrive, every community needs a solid, independent local news ecosystem. Obviously, there are many interlocking elements that define community: good schools, safe drinking water, fresh air, responsive