DEAR SUN SPOTS: Thanks for all the research you do for people. Maine has such a convoluted coastline, with the many islands and all. Is there a report somewhere on how much total oceanfront Maine has?

We also have a lot more lakes than many states. How much lake frontage do we have? How does our total water frontage compare with other states? Just wondering. — No Name via email

ANSWER: According to maine.gov, Maine has about 3,478 miles of tidally influenced coastline.

This agrees with a listing Sun Spots found at infoplease.com, which lists all the states by coastline. According to that, Maine is behind Alaska (31,383 Pacific and 2,521 Arctic), Florida (3,331 Atlantic, and 5,095 Gulf Coast) and Louisiana (7,721).

California (3,427), North Carolina (3,375), Texas (3,359), Virginia (3,315) and Maryland (3,190) are just behind Maine.

Infoplease.com says that total U.S. coastline is 88,633 miles.

Sun Spots couldn’t find a similar comparison of lakefront mileage or, for that matter, any verifiable ranking of states by lakes. Turns out states count their lakes differently. Some go by surface area, others by lakefront. Also, it depends on your definition of a lake.

At wiki.answers.com, it says that Wisconsin claims the title by sheer numbers (15,074), but 9,037 of those are small and unnamed. In contrast, Minnesota has 11,842 named lakes larger than 10 acres

If you go beyond the lower 48, the uncontested winner is Alaska, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million bodies of water. Maryland officials, meanwhile, say that state has no natural lakes. Rhode Island, by virtue of its small size, wins the award for largest percentage of water to land.

The author of wizzley.com tried to come up with a definite number and ran into the same problems Sun Spots found and settled for the following ranking: Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Texas and New York. Maine does not make that list.

For other tidbits of geographical facts at maine.gov, such as the largest lakes in square miles (Moosehead Lake, 117; Sebago Lake, 45; Chesuncook Lake, 36; and Mooselookmeguntic Lake, 26) and the geographical center of Maine: Brownville Junction, 18 miles north of Dover-Foxcroft, visit http://tinyurl.com/cp9sngw.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: My work purchased the old Winter building on Washington Avenue. It was used for storage. We found a box left behind containing photos, a 1965 Edward Little High School yearbook, and two albums from Vietnam belonging to Sgt. John Dubuc.

He served as a mechanic in the Marine Corps from 1967-1970. I would like to find him or his family, so I can return these precious photos to him. He or his family should have these items back. Any information or if someone knows him, please call me at 225-2758 or text me at 330-0826. — Robert Labonte, [email protected]

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Edward Little High School Class of 1957 will be holding its 55-year reunion at noon on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the home of Jerry Douglass, 2 Mokingbird Lane, Lisbon, featuring a barbecue.

We are unable to locate the following classmates: Marlene Caron Lamontagne, Arlene Fifield Stephenson, Joan Snowman Schilling, Catherine Harnett Dionne, Marilyn Lyman Michaud, Constance O’Brien Skahan, Wilfred Cameron and George Lussier.

If anyone has information on these classmates, please call me at 782-2396. Thank you. — Barb Sanderson Pelletier

DEAR SUN SPOTS: In response to the question about selling used furniture in your July 24 column, we have a used furniture and bait and tackle store on Route 196 in Lisbon (the former Bradlees Furniture Co.). Closed Saturdays. — Brenda Mason Lavers, Paul Stufflebeam, 353-8623

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to [email protected].