If the letters to the editor a newspaper publishes provide a fair reflection of the prevailing beliefs, character and intelligence of the entire region that newspaper serves, one must conclude that the region this newspaper serves is simply packed with cultured, erudite and eloquent people. And I’m not just saying that because it’s Christmas and it’s customary to tip the newsboy.

Consider the evidence: In the last three weeks, this paper has published fully 30 letters and opinion pieces on the subject of classical music in general and opera in particular. What other newspaper, even if located in a hub of art and culture, can make such a claim? Not The New York Times. Not The Washington Post. Not even, I suspect, the Bayreuth Daily Schnitzel.

That 30 is but a fraction of total submissions on the subject. With only two exceptions, all have been pro classical music. Without exception, they have revealed a readership of extraordinary intellect and cultivation (the customary tip is 15 percent, by the way). In two picked entirely at random, I found the words “assiduous” and “obdurate” used and used properly.

The reason for this outpouring is not just because the Bangor region is a pretty high-class joint – the city, after all, is home to the oldest continually operating orchestra in the nation – but because of the recently announced programming changes at Maine Public Radio. You know the story: On Dec. 1, MPR cut back its classical programming, including the elimination of the live Saturday matinee Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, and filled the space largely with talk shows.

The changes sparked the usual complaints that arise when things get dumbed down, but MPR stoked it into a roaring blaze with its explanation: Southern Maine opera fans will still get the Met on a commercial classical station; northern Maine fans can either listen on the Internet, get a satellite dish, or buy some CDs for crying out loud. Even northern Mainers who think Puccini is a small dog are outraged, wondering, among other things, about how they figure in decisions made about spending the $2.3 million the taxpayers of this state provide annually to Maine Public Broadcasting.

That’s where it stood until the other day, when another communique came into this office, a copy of a memo MPB head Rob Gardiner sent to his trustees. It was written on Dec. 1, the day this newspaper ran a front-page story on the programming changes, it was intended as a talking-points document for trustees to “respond positively” to listener concerns.

The second paragraph arrests my attention. Mr. Gardiner finds it interesting that our story was prominently positioned on the front page, even above the Florida recount. It’s a valid point, considering that one was a story with immediate impact for our readers and the other was day 21 of a story moving at the pace of a malnourished snail. He concedes that “after they (we) stir up the usual controversy, they (we) actually provide a pretty good explanation of why we are making these changes.” It’s a journalistic two-fer.

But here’s the part that leaps off the page. After asserting that only 19 percent of the state population can’t get the Met on the commercial station, Mr. Gardiner writes: “they are truly losing a listening option. This situation seems to fuel the normal expression of feeling disadvantaged that comes so often from this area.”

Not wanting to labor under the misconception that this statement is a combination of “tough toenails” and an observation that people in northern Maine are a bunch of whiners, I call Mr. Gardiner for further explanation. The conversation gets off to a rocky start.

He: Aren’t all your letters getting awfully boring?

Me: Not as boring as all your talk shows.

Having established that neither one of us has the phone skills for a career in telemarketing, we forge ahead. It’s not a matter of tough toenails, he says, but of the unfortunate result of doing something for the greater good.

And northern Mainers are not whiners. The Two Maines syndrome, he explains, can be real or it can be the work of those unnamed forces of darkness that thrive on fostering discontent. In this case, it is real, but Maine Public Broadcasting is devoted to the cause of bringing Maine together and, besides, you can get really good reception from a satellite dish.

I ran through a couple of questions raised by our readers. Several have pointed out that MPB has drastically overestimated the commercial station’s reach. He concedes that the 19 percent figure is not based upon any technical analysis – it could be 23, 27, 32 – but the number of Mainers who can’t get the Met at all is certainly less than the number who would, without this change, get it on two stations. This change was not discussed beforehand with listeners, but it was discussed at length at MPB headquarters, so it’s not like it wasn’t discussed.

Many readers have complained about more talk on radio. Mr. Gardiner notes that MPB’s new talk programs “are not conventional talk radio. These programs are not G. Gordon Liddy or Rush Limbaugh. They are intelligent, thoughtful, informed discussions. …” That’ll sure bring the Two Maines together.

Since the Met is special, why not just broadcast its 20-week season (from December to April) and fill the 32 remaining Saturday afternoons with something other than recorded opera?

Because, Mr. Gardiner says, it would too confusing to listeners. In other words, we lunkhead football fans have figured out that, no matter how hard we stare at the TV set in June, a game’s not going to come on, but the most intelligent radio listeners in the country would be befuddled from May through November.

Driving home that afternoon, I ran into a big old chunk of irony. The featured interview on public radio’s “All Things Considered” was with Renee Fleming, the superstar soprano who sang the role of Donna Anna in the Met’s season-opening production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” She talked about her early exposure to classical music and how the growing popularity of opera is evident in everything from the sold-out performances to the increasing use of the music in movies and commercials.

Actually, two chunks: 1) public radio won’t play opera, but it will talk about it; 2) “Don Giovanni” ends with the title character being told to go to hell. And he didn’t whine about it, either.

Bruce Kyle is the assistant editorial page editor for the Bangor Daily News.