Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After…

Most places down by the sea built wooden vessels because at one time wind and water was the cheapest mode of…

May 11 was Yogi Berra’s birthday. He’s 90. He’s a great guy with a wonderful wife, and I had the privilege to escort Yogi and Carmen when they came to Maine for the MBNA management conference…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and…

I know I'm not the only one, but I've been asked plenty of times before. That same old cliched line: "How do you do what you do?"

Always at some uncomfortable party where I'm the least paid…

Entertainment is fascinated by crime, and whether it's realized through television, movies, or novels, we all have our favorite…

The Post Office is the hub of Camden, where people meet and greet, during its open hours. This month the building will be 100 years old; Camden’s newest postmaster will be officially installed May…

 Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After…

Being serious is no fun at all. Usually I like to keep my topics local and keep them on the fun side, but every once in a while…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

We all know about the precariousness of expectations and how damaging they can be, but I must admit, I had believed that Ben and…

Happiness is an integral part of good health and wellness. Happier people are healthier. They live longer, have less chronic disease, become sick less often and if they do get sick, they get…

AUGUSTA — Watershed School students had two unusual opportunities to take part in the democratic process…

If you leave an IRA to a spouse, it’s easy to keep it going and growing. Surviving spouses can roll over the funds to their own IRAs, postponing distributions—and taxes—until age…

There’s still time to save on 2014 taxes—hurry, hurry—by opening an IRA for that year. The deadline is April 15 for setting up an IRA, and the contributions must be made by that date, too. Even a…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

As Easter just passed, I’m reminded of something that was a huge event back in the day. WRKD was the AM radio station and if there were any FM stations, I don’t remember them. Every Easter, the…

Before the days of television, people belonged to groups to enjoy each other and to have a common interest. They…

 The 19 residents of a small, isolated ledge…

In 1989, a preacher, mildly senile at 84, escaped from a nursing home in Maryland and…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic…

Among the many things we, who live on these islands take for granted, beyond the natural beauty and the joy of community is the daily back and forth of the Maine State ferries. We get on; we ride…

My friend, John, was out in his field yesterday on snowshoes working up his arm strength, casting his heavy tarpon rod. He will meet his son, Jessie, later this month in the mangrove…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

Not that long ago when our news was delivered, we could only read it. There was no interacting. Even when print publications went online there were no comments at first and then they had to be…

About three miles from the sea are our lakes and ponds. At Hosmer Pond, with the National Toboggan Races over and winter coming to an end, we think of the beginning of the Camden Snow Bowl in 1936…

I can't get my mind around the current fashion, even among young women — although fewer than their male counterparts — who wear their pants so low that it's difficult, impossible really, to…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

The 401(k) retirement plan is real money earmarked for retirement, yet financial and retirement experts are seriously concerned about the money that is being taken out too soon.…

Recent estate tax regulations have eased planning, especially for most of us whose assets do not exceed the $5.34 million tax exemption. “Portability”…

Back in November, we found ourselves driving through the mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont. As we drove higher we caught an occasional glimpse of a snow-covered peak — Mt. Washington, of…

Once again, there’s a court case about some folks moving to local community and suing the town and the neighbors, I guess because they believe they own some land that has been used by the public…

MATINICUS — It isn't exactly a steady round of parties out here in the winter. The women don't gather at 10 o'clock for coffee, with a nice view of the harbor and all that floats within to…

A young woman walked into a bar. Fortunately for her, and for the people who care about her, it was her bar, rather our bar — or more precisely — the island bar, and there she found community, her…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

Reverse mortgages let a homeowner borrow against home equity at age 62 or more. The loan doesn’t have to be repaid until the owner moves or dies. But years of misleading marketing…

Service dogs can be lifesavers for the disabled. Some are trained to lead the blind. Others can turn on lights and bring things to paralyzed people or warn of danger. Now it turns…

It was a case of David and Goliath. Back in 2003, the multi-billion dollar company Monsanto picked a fight with Maine-based Oakhurst Dairy over the label on its milk bottles. Responding to the…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

Everyone says they don't believe that we ever had so much snow as this fall and winter. …

Wooden vessel building was a major industry in Camden from 1800 to probably the 1960s. My first book, Grog Ho! The…

I found an old newspaper clipping that almost brought me to tears. Every couple years, I do an online search for my father, and…

For over a month now, Fairpoint telephone service on Vinalhaven has been bad, in some cases nonexistent. Calls to Fairpoint have been routinely met with empty promises to have whatever…

When you get a coffee mug from your public radio station in response to a contribution, it’s considered a minimal gift; no tax is involved. But when a bank’s gift for opening an…

Many retirees do a pretty good job of figuring their expenses for the after-work years. What many forget, though, is to allow for taxes. Taxes are a fact of life even in…

Well, we’ve got the elections behind us and the holidays out of the way. Now is the time for us to pursue outdoor activities to ward off cabin fever or become couch hermits until mid-March with an…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…

Your first step toward student aid or student loans should be completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Many colleges use the form to evaluate the family’s…