Ten years ago, I quit a longtime reporting job at a Connecticut newspaper to protest what I called “journalistic misconduct of epic proportions” by its publisher.

My detailed explanation became a viral sensation that Christmas Eve, and I quickly found myself the (uncomfortable) subject of news stories instead of the source of them. A former reporter who had earlier jumped ship in the defense of professional principles phoned to let me know I wasn’t doomed. She’d secured a trailer in the North Carolina woods and had found she could grow enough food to survive. I could do the same, she insisted.

Steve Collins

At that moment, I figured I probably wouldn’t ever work in journalism again. I assumed no editor would want a reporter who’d shown he might turn around one day and incinerate his employer before a national audience.

Fortunately, and to my enduring joy, the Sun Journal in Lewiston hired me anyway. I will always appreciate Judy Meyer, its editor at the time, for giving me a chance.

I quickly learned to love Maine’s live-and-let-live ethos. With its array of offbeat individuals, this state is pretty much a paradise for a journalist who loves quirky news stories and the passionate people at the heart of them.

Now, the Maine Trust for Local News wants me to write opinion columns.

A 1988 cartoon showing Steve Collins in his role as a columnist for The Citizen, a daily newspaper in Auburn, New York. Walt Schoonmaker

Before I get started, I’d like to tell readers a little something about myself.

My parents were high school sweethearts near Boston who got married in 1957 and are still happy together. My dad joined the Air Force during college and put in a long career that included stints for all of us in Norway, Ohio and Virginia.

Among other things, my parents taught me to love dogs, books, baseball, public service and newspapers.

I got a degree in history at the University of Virginia, then went to law school, which I hated so much that I fled not long before graduation. I didn’t want to risk spending my life as an attorney.

I won’t debate anyone who calls that decision dumb, but it led to my traveling to a little newspaper in upstate New York that was looking for a politics reporter. Since I was already there, the editors at The Citizen in Auburn gave me a tryout. In no time, I began churning out reams of news stories, along with movie reviews and columns poking fun at wayward politicians. I relished every day of it.

I met my wife Jackie there. She’s a terrific journalist. We soon moved to Connecticut to work at The Bristol Press. Together, we had two children who attended more than their share of boring government meetings. They are now grown up and thriving. These days, we have two oh-so-sweet collies at home instead.

Three decades ago, Jackie and I created Youth Journalism International, a charity that educates young people in countries around the world with an interest in the press. Jackie devotes all of her time to it. With a full-time job, I do what I can.

Anyway, here I am, 38 years into it, ecstatic that I’ve somehow pulled off a career in this always-dying, never-quite-dead profession. I owe that to Jackie, to my family, to our many students at YJI and, most of all, to the readers who make it all possible. I know darn well how lucky I am.

Since I’ll be writing a fair amount about state and local politics in this new role, I should tell you up front that I’ve been a Democrat since day one. But no party commands my loyalty.

I’ve known a great many admirable Republicans, voted for some, and generally prefer politicians who are eager to compromise and get things done rather than engaging in the endless feuding that threatens our precious democracy. What I can promise is that I’ll always do my best to be truthful and fair.

I can’t wait to get started.

Please don’t hesitate to give me tips, share ideas or tell me why I’m wrong about something. You can most easily reach me at scollins@metln.org — or on social media.