Today is the day we remember Martin Luther King, a hero to most Americans.

Here are a few of my heroes though I don't suggest they reached the same elevated tier as MLK.

Kenneth Roberts - This Maine author started as a newsman, and moved on to write close to a dozen historical novels some of which were made into films. The most memorable for me his "Arundel," which showed his remarkable knowledage of the outdoors. It also demonstrated an authoritive take on New England history, as it depicted Benedict Arnold's 1775 march on Quebec (in service of the fledgling Americans). Roberts provided riveting portraits of life in the wild - and the challenges of canoeing and portaging through (what became) Maine and eastern Canada as winter closed in.

E.B. White - This versatile writer was one of the first "dropouts." Disillusioned by life in New York, he left the city in the late '30s to live and write on a farm in North Brooklin. A native of the suburbs of New York, he acquired his love of Maine from summers as a boy in the Belgrade Lakes. He settled on the coast, where he indulged in activities ranging from sailing and clamming to raising fowl and canning produce. My favorite work is "One Man's Meat," a collection of essays from the New Yorker (which was happy to retain him from afar). He must rank as one of the most commerically successful writers of his generation or any other, given that classics like "Charlotte's Web," "Stuart Little," and "The Trumpet of the Swan" have sold millions of copies in dozens of languages. Plus he co-wrote a leading text on the craft of writing, "The Elements of Style."

George Mitchell - I don't know that the former senator knows a lot about cabin country or the Maine coast, but few have achieved more than this Waterville native. He was majority leader in the Senate; he helped broker peace in Northern Ireland. In recent weeks he emerged as the face of integrity, when he headed a commission to investigate the use of steroids and other substances in Major League Baseball. He reportedly turned down offers to be a Supreme Court Justice and commissioner of baseball. He has served on at least six corporate boards, including Disney Corp. and the Boston Red Sox. For a guy whose demeanor appears modest and soft-spoken, here is a dynamic man for all seasons.

Harold Alfond - Was there ever a man as generous as the late Harold Alfond? There's hardly a college campus in Maine that hasn't benefited from his contributions, and many community buildings and health centers also bear his name. I met him once, at his camp near Belgrade. The founder of Dexter Shoe was cordial and unassuming, and it would have been impossible to know that he was one of the wealthiest executives, and the most generous philanthropist, in Maine history.

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