Editor’s Note

It was 50 years ago this month that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Tennessee. For their safety and well-being, his wife and family retreated to stay with friends in New Hampshire.

Did you know that Dr. Seuss was born in New Hampshire? To be clear, I’m not saying that the man who became Dr. Seuss was born here, just that he assumed that famous name while he was here.

There was a death in my family just as the year was turning and it was an emotional time on every level, but through all the stress and grief, one member of our clan kept her composure.

For me, the future arrived back in the 1960s. It came on wheels, packed with books, and when the door opened, it smelled like a cool breeze from heaven: It was an air-conditioned bookmobile.

Just 150 years ago, one of the most illustrious female orchestral composers in American history was born in Henniker. It’s sad to think that most Granite Staters have never heard her music.

The news told of the horrors of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, but I kept thinking about the brave work of first responders, volunteers and hospital personnel in the wake of such a nightmare.

Building on Hope, a remarkable effort that began in a conference room here at our offices, has a new extreme makeover project — but for this one, the location has to remain a secret.

“In wildness is the preservation of the world,” wrote Henry David Thoreau. Now, physicians and scientists are suggesting that wildness may be the preservation of good health as well.

It may not be one of the first adjectives that come to mind when describing the Granite State, but when people (or states) describe themselves as “cool,” it’s often a sign that they aren’t.

“I wish that in the ear of every son and daughter of New Hampshire, in the summer days, might be heard whispered the persuasive words: Come back, come back.” — Gov. Frank Rollins, 1897