This past month, a letter arrived addressed to me from a Troubadour subscriber in Atkinson. Inside, to my surprise, was a generous check.

Dear Robert Finlay and others:

Just finished reading the March-April 2010 issue of the “Troubadour.” I have enjoyed and appreciated receiving your publication for some time and wish to congratulate you for your efforts. Please accept the enclosed check as an example of my appreciation.

The gentleman’s wife then attached a postscript: By the way, he’s 92 years old.

When my wife Karin and I first began re-publishing the Troubadour 20 months ago as a gift to the state, we had a lot of questions.  We live in a world, after all, where profit is the primary motive for most any venture, and where launching a new print publication – in an age of electronic media – would have most questioning your sanity or certainly your business sense.  We envisioned a magazine that profiled the best our state had to offer, that gave readers an additional reason to be proud to live in New Hampshire.  Still, we asked: Would people read it? And more importantly, would they enjoy it? Would they want to contribute, to be a part of it?

Over the last year-and-a-half, you have answered that in the beautiful and incredibly personal poetry, memories and photography you have shared; in your willingness to welcome us into your towns to shine a bright light on what makes each community – from Portsmouth to Pittsburg – so unique; in the bundles of vintage Troubadours you’ve graciously sent us after rediscovering them in your attics and old chests; in the humbling letters and contributions like the one from we received from the reader from Atkinson – all the more humbling considering the tight times in which we live.

Just so you know, we did return the check to the gentleman in Atkinson, as we have returned other donations by readers kind enough to offer either support or payment for subscriptions. It is not a decision likely to land us on the cover of “Forbes”. But then, neither was re-launching the Troubadour. Instead, we simply ask this: Enjoy this magazine. Spread our good word to your friends and neighbors. And should the opportunity or material lend itself, honor us by continuing to submit your poems, photos, recipes and memories of New Hampshire for publication. There’s no better payment we can imagine.