Christopher Knight, the North Pond Hermit, Lived near Knight Court

Really. 

The Kennebec Journal has this map showing the location of the hermit's encampment, at the terminus of McNally Lane, near Little Pond (which connects to North Pond). Knight Court is the junction between Route 225 and McNally and is named for the Knight family of Rome.

The "hermit's" compound was .02 miles from the nearest house, and yet we are told that his presence was unknown both to the landowner on which he had pitched his tent and to all of the neighbors (including those who owned dogs which would, presumably, have been intrigued by the scent of cached hamburger).  

How Knight came to choose this ideal location to elude authortities for 27 years is another of the case's many interesting questions.

Secrets of the North Pond Hermit

Christopher Knight, the North Pond Hermit Whenever Maine game wardens find their way into the national news, people contact me to ask my thoughts about the big story everyone is talking about.

This week, the buzz is about Christopher Knight, 47, the so-called "North Pond Hermit," who was arrested early on Thursday morning by Warden Sergeant Terry Hughes. Knight has confessed to more than 1,000 burglaries of cottages, houses, and summer camps around Rome, Maine, over the course of 27 years. During that time, he says he lived entirely alone in a tent compound in the woods, never interacting with other human beings. Terry Hughes told me that Knight claimed he hadn't spoken to another person since the '90s  — and Hughes, who has been doggedly pursuing the reclusive burglar for years — believes his story.

The saga seems so improbable it almost defies belief (the Kennebec Journal so far has the most comprehensive account of it, which you can read here). 

I learned about the arrest of the hermit late last week, before it was reported in the media, and there are still important details in this case that I haven't seen discussed yet. Not being a journalist for a day paper or news site, I can't pursue the story as intensely as I might wish.

Among the questions still needing to be answered are:

 

  • What really drove Knight into the woods in 1986? Was there a precipitating incident that involved wrongdoing on his or another person's part? His desire to simply "disappear" is suggestive of some trauma he suffered as a teenager.
  • Terry Hughes told me that Knight seems quite intelligent. However, it doesn't seem that Knight's decades in the woods were prompted by a Thoreauvian rejection of civilization or some other philosophical choice (he did have an affection for Robinson Crusoe). There are signs of obsession compulsion in the neatness with which he maintained his camp and in the habits he acquired to escape detection. What is (and has has been) his mental state?
  • What explains his family's seeming nonchalance to his disappearance? A neighbor is quoted as saying the family thought Christopher moved to "New York City" which is far from the reality of what the man actually did as can be imagined. 
  • The Knight family is well-established in the town of Rome (assuming Christopher is related to that branch) and well-known to wardens. How is it possible he was not recognized in the images law enforcement officers circulated widely in the community? Despite the affects of age, most of us bear some resemblance to other family members.
  • Is it true that he had no assistance? Knight's compound is, by all accounts, a marvel to behold and yet he is very clearly no Bear Grylls or "Survivorman." He claims not to have hunted or fished but instead to have stolen and cached vast amounts of food. 
  • The section of Rome where he lived is remote and untraveled in relative terms, but non-Mainers might be tricked into believing it was the North Woods, when in reality it is only thirty minutes from the state capital and a shorter distance from one of the state's largest cities (Waterville). It would be analogous to someone hiding out for 27 years in a wilder pocket of Westchester County, New York. Did no one ever stumble upon him even as nearby land was sold, surveyed, and developed?
  • Knight claims he never lit fires because he feared detection, but why was he so scared to be found? His burglaries, while sustained and sweeping, might ultimately be reduced to misdemeanors by the time this is over. Was his paranoia a result of his isolation and living situation or prompted by knowledge he hasn't disclosed?
  • How will investigators assess Knight's truthfulness ultimatelty? What, if anything here, might be a hoax? Many of the outlandish aspects of the story don't much matter, except as folklore (i.e. whether he hadn't seen his own reflection in years). But there are other elements here—especially those might brush upon other crimes by the man or by others—that need to be evaluated. So far Knight seems to have been taken almost entitely at his word. 
  • Lastly, what will become of him, assuming he is convicted and serves what should be a relatively short time in jail? For his sake as well as society's, prosecutors have a duty to do everything in their power to untangle the enigma of the North Pond Hermit.

 

I'll Be Teaching Crime Fiction at the Black Fly Writing Retreat

With the March 29 enrollment deadline approaching I am reposting this one:

I don't teach many writing workshops, but when Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance invited me to be an instructor at its annual Black Fly Writing Retreat, I jumped at the chance. First off, the retreat is held in Grand Lake Stream, a village in eastern Maine that just happens to be:

A.) Spectacularly scenic.

B.) The setting of Mike Bowditch's next adventure.

C.) One of the premier fly-fishing destinations in the United States.

The retreat offers classes in fiction, memoir, poetry, and YA. I'll be teaching crime fiction. Now that I have a few books under my belt, I'm looking forward to a chance to work with new writers in the genre. Here's a description of the class I'll be leading:

 

Take a look at any bestseller list, and you'll see that crime fiction consistently dominates the tops of the charts. The genre's continuing appeal is easy to understand. Storytelling is at the essence of our humanity, and no other genre is unabashed in its devotion to story as the "whodunit." In this class you will learn the building blocks of the well-told story. We'll discuss compelling characters whose actions drive the plot, the elements of suspense that keep readers turning pages, settings that illustrate the conflicts at the heart of the tale, and narrative arcs that avoid cliche while delivering a satisfying reading experience at the end. No matter your sub-genre (thriller, mystery, cozy, procedural, noir, or caper) you'll learn techniques to make you a better storyteller.

Sound interesting? Registration is now open.