'Inflexibly territorial'

The harbor of Cutler, Maine. The tiny town is way Downeast.

The harbor of Cutler, Maine. The tiny town is way Downeast.

Many small towns I know in Maine are as tight-knit and interdependent as those I associate with rural communities in India or China; with deep roots and old loyalties, skeptical of authority, they are proud and inflexibly territorial.

-- Paul Theroux, novelist and travel writer