My daughter recently confessed (in her blog) to thumbing through Paris Hilton's book Confessions of an Heiress when waiting in line at the check-out counter of some store. She said it was unremarkable in every respect except for its mention of Maine. Paris wrote that she loves to travel, and has had fun everywhere she's visited except Maine. She came here once, and said she doesn't know why anyone would ever come back, saying something like: "There's no one there and nothing to do."
This is great publicity for our state. Someone famous saying there's no reason to visit Maine will keep the number of tourists down so that Maine can stay the way most residents prefer: sparsely populated and naturally beautiful. On Maine Public Radio this morning I heard writer E.B. White quoted about his life in gorgeous Brooklin, Maine: "Just to live in the country is a full-time job. You don't have to do anything. The idle pursuit of making a living is pushed to one side, where it belongs, in favor of living itself, a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace."
So in these days when I'm powerless to stay inside, I'm grateful to both Paris Hilton and E.B. White. In their inimitable and opposite ways, they've captured the Maine I know and love.
Confessions of an Airhead would be a better title.
Wonderful quote by White! "The idle pursuit of making a living is pushed to one side, where it belongs, in favor of living itself..."
Yes!
Posted by: Amy | July 13, 2005 at 05:14 AM
Exactly the way I feel about the desert southwest part of my beloved state. Unfortunately, Texas has caught the eye of the nation, as has the Big Lonesome. Sadly, it's not so lonely anymore.
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie | July 16, 2005 at 07:16 AM
And all the better for me who will soon call Maine home...
Posted by: Ronni Bennett | July 16, 2005 at 11:02 AM
And here I was thinking that Paris had no redeeming qualities....
Posted by: Melissa | July 18, 2005 at 12:34 PM