Dear Sun Spots: Please print the poem “Myself.” It goes something like: “I have to live with myself and so I want to be fit for myself to know.” I’m not sure of the rest. Seems to me we could give this message to people and hope they take heed. – A.G., Rumford.

Answer: Sun Spots located the following poem online and thought she’d include this first in line to help readers get a great start to their day:

“Myself” by Edgar Guest

I have to live with myself, and so,

I want to be fit for myself to know;

I want to be able as days go by,

Always to look myself straight in the eye;

I don’t want to stand with the setting sun

And hate myself for the things I’ve done.

I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf

A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself as I come and go

Into thinking that nobody else will know

The kind of man I really am;

I don’t want to dress myself up in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,

I want to deserve all men’s respect;

But here in this struggle for fame and pelf,

I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to think as I come and go

That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show.

I never can hide myself from me,

I see what others may never see,

I know what others may never know,

I never can fool myself – and so,

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.



In addition, you might be interested in noting that Guest was born in Birmingham, England in 1881, moving to Michigan USA as a young child. In 1895, the year before Henry Ford took his first ride in a motor carriage, Eddie Guest signed on with the Free Press as a 13-year-old office boy. He stayed for 60 years.

It did not occur to Guest to write in verse until late in 1898 when he was working as assistant exchange editor. It was his job to cull timeless items from the newspapers with which the Free Press exchanged papers for use as fillers.

Many of the items were verses. Guest figured he might just as well write verse as clip it and submitted one of his own, a dialect verse, to Sunday editor Arthur Mosley. The Free Press was choosy about publishing the literary efforts of staff members and Guest, a 17-year-old dropout, might have been seen as something of an upstart. But Mosley decided to publish the verse.

The verse ran on Dec. 11, 1898. More contributions of verse and observations led to a weekly column, “Blue Monday Chat,” and then a daily column, “Breakfast Table Chat.”

Dear Sun Spots: For the person looking for a full-size mattress, anyone might consider trying to look at the Salvation Thrift Store, 720 Main St. (near Mardens) in Lewiston. Their prices for such things are generally reasonable. – No Name, No Town.

Dear Sun Spots: I’m looking for somebody who might know about Herrschners catalog? I’d like their phone number and address. They sell embroidery, floss and yarn as well as knitting needles and more. – No Name, No Town.

Answer: Contact Herrschners Inc. at Customer Service C/O Herrschners, Inc., 2800 Hoover Road, Stevens Point, WI 54481, 1-800-713-1239 or via their Web site at www.herrschners.com.

Dear Sun Spots: Sue and Walt here at Artios Books in Auburn.

We have noted lately that when people are asking about where to find books that you have not been mentioning us in your response, the latest being October when a person was looking for a copy of “The Bridges of Madison County.” If they can find it at a library that would be great, but if not and we have any book someone might be looking for, it would cost a lot less to purchase from us versus eBay or Amazon. We are still at 180 Turner St. and we have more than 100,000 used books. We are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays – Sue and Walt, Auburn.

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