I've listened to your show off and on for many years. When I read this article in my local paper I knew it was a lesson in personal responsibility that needed to be shared. This is about the Governor of Maine and his childhood. I hope you can use it. I also had a hell of a childhood and am now happy and successful. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Have a wonderful day -- John 

The early years: Paul LePage

Tough love, hard work and luck saved the boy who would become governor after he fled a family mired in poverty and scarred by abuse.  

Paul LePage’s first memory is of his house nearly burning down.

Of his father, LePage’s earliest recollection is the man kicking him on the ground.

And of his siblings, he recalls tripping over the body of a brother who died one night in their Lewiston tenement. 

Although LePage is reluctant to revisit the violence and tragedy that defined his upbringing, more so than any other period in his life, the 19 years between his birth and when he entered college stand as some of the most influential in shaping how Maine’s governor understands the world. In his attitudes and worldview, no other period has drawn deeper demarcations of right and wrong, tough love and self-discipline.

Read the entire here.