PORTLAND, Maine — Of all the news stories that have come out of Maine, there has never been one like the saga of the North Pond Hermit. The hermit was Christopher Knight.
For 27 years, starting in 1986, Knight lived in the woods near North Pond in the town of Rome, in the Belgrade Lakes area. He survived by breaking into nearby camps and stealing what he needed to live: clothing, batteries, propane and especially food.
He carried out more than a thousand break-ins until he was finally caught stealing food from a camp in 2013.
About 500 journalists contacted Knight after he was arrested, asking for an interview. Knight responded to just one - Michael Finkel, who at first exchanged letters with Knight and later interviewed him - and the people in the Belgrade Lakes region - several times.
Finkel tells Knight's story in his book "The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit."