Dear Editor:

In response to a recent article I read about young people leaving northern Maine and losing their way of life, the changes in Northern Maine are not the only changes in Maine. There are also changes on the coast of Maine. The little coastal town is no longer the unique quiet little place anymore. The traditions are disappearing, the bucolic lifestyle or “The way life should be” is fading, and gentrification has reared its ugly head.

As people fear, economic development and selling the area as a tourist destination have diluted the culture along the coast, and support for our traditions is losing ground. As a result, there is no quiet little community anymore, affecting the lifelong residents and fishermen and many others who have lived here all their lives.

The small fishing town is disappearing in the rear view mirror. I know this as I was born in Maine, in this small fishing town. It is losing its customs and traditions, but why was this allowed to happen? Who is responsible for the vanishing customs and traditions that made Maine what it was over many years?

Lorna Durfee

Boothbay Harbor