Ok, I admit it. I am... a fan. 
Maybe because I am a Midwesterner living in voluntary exile as is Doyle -- .
Maybe because I too was made in a place that does serious seasons especially winter (read -- made in Chicago like tempered steel). Birth place does leave a mark! and/or a high tolerance for ambiguity .
Maybe because I recognize in Doyle a true 'wordsmith' that draws a reader into the experience and doesn't encourage staying outside the experience being described. Maybe because his writing moves across genre's with a rare fluidity of a Yoda. Mary Oliver reads Brian Doyle!
Maybe its because its winter in the South or what they call winter in the South and I miss the crunch of snow, and seasons and layers of clothes that makes falling down in fresh snow to make a snow angel -- desirable!
Read his stuff! The Portland Magazine collections are just one dimension of a great talent. Don't be too proud to try one of his kid books. He returns you to awe and wonder... amen.