Editor’s Letter to Readers
This issue of Yankee is filled with answers to questions you may not have known you wanted to ask. So we’ve asked them for you. For instance, where in New England will you discover the best Grape-Nut pudding? Or Yankee pot roast? Or quahog chowder? Johnette Rodriguez wanted to know, so she set out on […]
This issue of Yankee is filled with answers to questions you may not have known you wanted to ask. So we’ve asked them for you. For instance, where in New England will you discover the best Grape-Nut pudding? Or Yankee pot roast? Or quahog chowder?
Johnette Rodriguez wanted to know, so she set out on a quest to find out: “We ate in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, in Boston, on the Cape, the Vineyard, and Nantucket, and all around Rhode Island. We stopped at farm stands, bakeries, creemie stands, and lobster pounds. We hit food booths at local festivals, sandwich shops and cafés, old-fashioned inns, clam shacks, and roadside diners. Along the way, I asked everyone I met about their favorite places for real New England foods …”
Her report, “Eating New Englandy”, is sure to stir the pot in towns and cities across our region. If you want to argue (or agree!) with Yankee‘s choices, be sure to write us at “New England Foods,” Yankee Magazine, 1121 Main St., Dublin, NH 03444, or online at: Eating New Englandy
Here’s another question. If you’ve ever visited glorious Cape Cod National Seashore in the summer, surely you’ve wondered, “Where can I find solitude?” Jennifer Kain DeFoe wrote to us a few months back and said that her husband (who worked for the National Seashore’s trails division) had told her about the secret, hidden paths known to the park’s rangers but seldom discovered by visitors.
After she’d explored them, she wrote back: “The trails I’ve hiked in the last few days have led to the most exceptional beaches I’ve ever seen on the Cape.” When you see the stunning photos by Alison Shaw that accompany Jennifer’s story, “Hidden Trails of Cape Cod”, the only question you may ask is simply: “When do I go?”
One question Mainers ask these days is: “Who should own the Great North Woods?” The issue goes to the heart of that state’s identity. In “The Most Controversial Woman in Maine”, Edie Clark tells the story of Roxanne Quimby, who owns some 90,000 acres of Maine forestland. Her dream to help create a North Woods National Park troubles many Maine residents and visitors, who fear that generations of public use of private paper company lands will end. This is one story that will continue to unfold in the years ahead.
May you enjoy this March/April issue as much as we at Yankee have enjoyed putting it together.
Mel Allen
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and in the summer of 2006 became editor. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long form story telling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 29 children through months of Maine winters. He learned you had to grab their attention and hold it. After 12 years teaching magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he now teaches in the MFA creative nonfiction program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Like all editors, his greatest joy is finding new talent and bringing their work to light.
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