R2 Publications

"A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of those city dolls. [...] He has not one chance, but a hundred chances." [Emerson, "Self-Reliance"]

Leaving aside Ralph Waldo's misguided inclusion of the Green Mountain State in this sentiment, and further adjusting to include sturdy lasses, this fine quote remains as true today as when he wrote it. As a native Granite Stater who has tried a few professions myself (teaming it, peddling it), I can attest that New Hampshire breeds headstrong individualists, people used to fending for themselves and getting along at whatever they do. This is a state where media consultants are not needed to craft a political statement. In the town of Epsom, N.H. a few years back, one property owner erected a massive wooden horse on wheels (and thus Trojan) looming over dozens of white crosses, labeled "Estonia," "Lithuania", "Vietnam, etc." Beside the horse stood a tall hand-lettered sign: "KEEP THE U.N. OUT OF THE U.S." No spin needed there. Someone burned it down, but the owner just built another one.

This is the state where Manchester Union Leader editor William Loeb made presidential candidate Edmund Muskie cry in the snow. No taxes; no frills. A land of harsh winters, muddy springs, black flies, hot summers, and about ten temperate days a year. You have to want to live here; it's not easy. The state motto sums it up best: Live Free or Die. New Hampshire writers and publishers draw their character from these very wells ...