"He put out the first couple issues on a mimeograph machine at school, but then he went out and got this printer in Brewer," says Sliter, who took over as editor in 1970, when LePage decided to be business manager. "Paul worked out this relationship with him and was getting incredibly good deals. The school was subsidizing it, and Paul would go out and hustle the advertisers. He was economical and really a pretty organized guy for a kid. But I don't think he was in it for the love of the news business. You got paid for being editor, and we were responsible for writing down our own hours, so it was like a license to steal."
Sliter said he was surprised LePage got involved in politics, because he'd always seen him as an introvert. "Frankly, I don't think anybody knew Paul that well . . . He was a quiet guy who always went to class and never got in any trouble I knew of." Sprague, who was closer to LePage, said he was a person "well known on campus and who had opinions well-formed even at that age . . . Paul was an opinionated guy back then, and he wasn't afraid to talk about his opinion."
"I don't think he was looking to be a politician, he was looking to not fail," says Moreau. "He worked to get the education he sought, and as he continued to be successful by not failing, he was learning along the way how to succeed, and that's how he gained his confidence."
LePage, who had technically been on academic probation throughout his college years, was cited for "outstanding academic and extracurricular achievement" at his graduation in May 1971. He had a degree in business administration, a girlfriend he was about to propose to, and the opportunity for a future far greater than he could ever have hoped for in high school.
>> READ: The Making of Paul LePage, Part 2 by Colin Woodard <<
This project was supported by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Colin Woodard can be reached at colin@colinwoodard.com.
