Dear Yankee | Our Readers Respond

The Story Continues

When planning began last year for the feature “City of Hope,” our aim was to tell the story of how a wave of newcomers—specifically African immigrants—was helping to revitalize the former mill town of Lewiston, Maine. By the time the piece appeared in our March/April issue, though, the national debate over immigration had given our readers another lens through which to view the story. “City of Hope” has received a lot of reactions from across the spectrum; here are two that we respectfully share.

I just read the lengthy feature on African immigrants in Lewiston, Maine, and found the article so carefully slanted as to be very one-sided. The whole immigrant infiltration experience was presented as being a positive experience for all in Lewiston, but the article dwelt on immigrants and their lives and didn’t say much about the other Lewiston residents and how this immigration affected them….

But my chief complaint is that I don’t subscribe to Yankee for social relevance. I get plenty of that everywhere else. Yankee shouldn’t do politics.

Mary Weston Dover, New Hampshire

My maternal grandmother was born in 1904 in the tiny town of Wales, Maine, just northeast of Lewiston, the eldest of 13 children. There was no high school in her small town, so in order to graduate with a secondary education she had to board during the school year with kind folks in Lewiston, who took her in and treated her as their own….

My grandmother would be so proud of the state of Maine and of her adopted city of Lewiston. In her 95 years on this earth, she always strove to support those in need and to reach out to strangers, to make them feel at home. This, I believe, she learned from her years in Lewiston, as a young girl from the country who was nurtured and strengthened by those in her new city. Thank you for shedding light on this wonderful pocket of America.

Laurie Daniels Keene Valley, New York

Over the Long Run

Thanks so much for the “Timeless” reminder [“Game Changer,” March/April] showing the photographs of the first female Boston Marathon runner being attacked by the event’s male codirector. Just looking at the anger in his face helps explain what has fomented today’s political environment, with its toxic hatred toward those who want an equal chance to run, work, and vote…. I am glad the two main characters ultimately became friends—I just hope the same can be true for the rest of our country.

John Wengler Nelson, New Hampshire

We want to hear from you! Write us at 1121 Main St., Dublin, NH 03444, or editor@yankeemagazine.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.