While Eliot Spitzer endured about the most searing crisis with which any public figure could be tormented, he may be wishing he were still in Maine.

This is where the now-former New York governor spent the summer between his sophomore and junior years of high school in 1975. Interviewed by this columnist in Portland a little over two years ago, after Spitzer delivered the University of Maine’s annual Frank Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, he recalled his experience in Maine.

His time here was at Camp Kennebec, a private boys camp in North Belgrade. The camp, which drew attendees from the elite suburbs of New York and Philadelphia, featured sailing on Salmon Lake, tennis, rifle training, and baseball. Though like most youths there, Spitzer was from a privileged background, he was not just a recreational camper. Spitzer, then 16, was also a paid staff member. In his eight weeks at the Salmon Lake facility a dozen miles outside Waterville, Spitzer recalled he “worked in the office.”

When I spoke with Spitzer, he had just delivered an inspiring presentation about his work in another office: that of New York’s attorney general. In his speech, Spitzer spoke of the “new federalism” he and other state prosecutors had championed in cracking down upon the excesses of stock brokers, insurance and other corporate executives.

He also praised Lewiston native Frank Coffin, who introduced him, and in whose honor his lecture was delivered. Spitzer extolled the early 1960s optimistic and progressive outlook that characterized Coffin’s political career, most notably Coffin’s almost successful 1960 campaign for governor of Maine, waged the same time Coffin’s friend and Congressional colleague, John F. Kennedy, was running for president.

I could not help but be struck by Spitzer’s upbeat and sparkling demeanor. His bright-as-broad-daylight smile and energetic, cordial countenance still linger in my own personal recollection. Soon after he left Portland, the Almanac of American Politics observed he would “stand like a colossus over New York state politics.” Only a year after we spoke, he would be elected governor with 70 percent of the vote.

He had come a long way since his summer as an office worker at a boys’ camp in central Maine.

Though Spitzer will continue to draw attention, now is also occasion to examine his successor, David Paterson, since Maine has much at stake in New York. It’s where, for example, to which our government leaders must make a pilgrimage later this spring to seek support for investments in our public infrastructure. Our worn bridges and broken budget cannot be fixed without credit, capital, and the confidence of Wall Street leaders.

Though Paterson made history as New York’s first black governor, he is more the political insider than Spitzer. A long-time state senator before becoming lieutenant governor 14 months ago, Paterson enjoys a close working relationship with legislative leaders of both parties, something Spitzer’s “steamroller” style had avoided.

Though known as a consensus builder, Paterson is more liberal than Spitzer. For example, Spitzer had promoted increased nuisance taxes, which fall on the middle class. By contrast, Paterson has advocated higher levies on upper-income taxpayers. So, despite the fall of their nemesis, Wall Street titans may still remain on the edge of their seats.

New York’s new governor is also attracting interest for another reason: he is blind. This affliction brings to mind the historic tenure of one of Maine’s public servants, Judge Courtland Perry, New England’s first blind judge when appointed by Governor Longley in 1976.

Perry served in the Augusta-based District Court for over 30 years, until his death last April. He was known for his expertise in mental health commitment and juvenile cases and won resounding praise for his brilliance and impartiality. A significant breakthrough for Perry’s service occurred in 1990 with the advent of a digital computer reader that enabled him to dispense with personal readers when reviewing written communications.

Margaret Chase Smith, who contracted macular degeneration during her last term as Maine’s senior senator, also experienced serious sight impairment. By the late 1970s, a few years after her retirement, she was blind, an affliction which she seemed to compensate with her other senses.

“Her hearing was perfect right up to the end,” observed her long time protégé Mert Henry when reached by this columnist. Henry recalled her enhanced hearing allowed the former senator to recognize the identity of staff members at her Skowhegan library by the tenor of their footsteps. This also allowed her to recognize the identity of all 300 guests at her 95th birthday party in 1992 by the timber of their voices.

In 2004, a blind candidate was the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Maine Legislature from Ellsworth. Danny Shaw, a 48-year-old carpenter, landscaper and Harvard graduate, garnered 42 percent of the vote in his bid against Republican incumbent Robert Crosthwaite.

The tumultuous and historic news from the Empire State has thus provoked interest in a variety of subjects having interest to Maine. They are also ones that have both lessons and implications in the crucial months that lie ahead.

Paul H. Mills is a Farmington attorney well known for his analyses and historical understanding of Maine’s political scene. He can be reached by e-mail: [email protected].