Willie Knows Who Done It

Hans Krichels came to Maine almost fifty years ago. He once asked an oldtimer if he’d lived here all his life. “Not yet,” the oldtimer had drawled. When Hans asked him if his own kids, born in Bangor, Maine, might be considered real Mainers, the oldtimer pointed out, “Iff’n my cat has kittens in the oven, that don’t make them muffins, now, do it?” Up there in Maine (and elsewhere, no doubt), a distinct outback way of life persists, a certain do-it-yourself approach, a certain caginess around the