Maine author captures Pulitzer, showing the depth of talent here

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

For a small state, Maine has more than its share of talent.

We've sent kids on to big-league baseball - South Portland's Billy Swift comes to mind. Politicians from Maine have frequently taken prominent places on the world stage - George Mitchell would be a good example. Then, of course, there's that famous writer who lives in Maine.

We're talking, of course, about Richard Russo of Camden. He is the author of five novels, including "Empire Falls," which on Monday won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Though not as relentlessly funny as his earlier "Straight Man," or as tightly woven as "Nobody's Fool," "Empire Falls" is Russo's richest and most ambitious work. It is set in a dying Maine mill town and chronicles the struggles of three generations to weather the economic dislocation of the industrial revolution's final days. It is well-deserving of the honor.

Russo began the novel in 1996 when he taught at Colby College in Waterville. His success as a writer has since freed him from full-time teaching duties, and he now writes full time.

We're glad he chooses to make his home here. Maine's a big state and there's plenty of room for a successful writer - or two.

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