By Colin W. Sargent

In 1987, the Hartford Courant covered us. How fanciful—a handful of clam diggers quixotically launching a city magazine in the Maine wilderness. In the photo, I’m wearing a jacket from David Wood. Nancy wears a creation from Amaryllis on Exchange Street.

Years later, John Coleman, founder of The VIA Agency, flew to the West Coast to court a big shiny client in Silicon Valley. “When we were in the lobby before the pitch, one of the larger competitors read VIA, Portland, Maine in the visitors log. Not knowing we were in the lobby with them, they began to make jokes about how the ‘clam diggers’ from Maine would never get the business. Well, we did.”

When Fred Astaire was screen tested, the snarky evaluation card read, “Can’t act, slightly balding, can’t sing—can dance a little.” Let’s hear it for the honorary clam digger! The legendary underestimations put his star on the map.

“Clam diggers” is also a name for the perennial summer fashion favorite (a.k.a. capris or flood pants) that comes in and out of style as often as clogs, stilletos, and animal prints. FYI, clam digging is a real skill, not nearly as easy as it sounds–many a novice has experienced the low of picking through a bucket of what looked like a peck of clams only to find barely a few actually held any of the luscious treasure. The rest were filled with sand.

Turns out, being a clam digger is a high calling. Maine is most exotic when our secrets sparkle at low tide. So can we still dance a little at Portland Monthly? We promise you more than just a bucket of sand. We hope you read this issue from discover to discover.