Gary Patton

Born in Wisconsin, raised in Illinois, and college-educated in Indiana, Gary Patton started life as a son of the Midwest. Gary then moved east where he earned a doctorate at Tufts and then taught at a state university in Pennsylvania for 28 years. His meandering path eastward culminated upon his retirement when he and his wife moved to seacoast New Hampshire, where he has become a "long-time newcomer."

Long-time newcomer? Hey, in New Hampshire, the most lenient definition of a native is someone who was born here and the most stringent is someone who has "seven generations in the ground."

So, Patton is doomed to be known forever as an "outtastatah" (out-of-stater), "flatlander" or "person from away." Despite this handicap, he has observed the curious, tightfisted and eccentric behavior of Granite Staters for the past 18 years as a writer for local newspapers. "Outtastatahs" is based in part upon his columns.