A new book by Jon Bowers, Legend of Lake George “El Lagarto” and the Men That Made Her Great, is set to be published in the next few weeks, and is now available for pre-order.
Bowers says the book “sets record straight” on the story of the famous wooden Lake George speedboat owned by George Reis. Bower’s grandfather, Anderson “Dick” Bowers, was the mechanic who worked with and for Reis over the lifetime of El Lagarto. » Continue Reading.
A new book edited by Richard Timberlake and Philip Terrie, J.S. Wooley: Adirondack Photographer (Syracuse University Press, 2018) tells the story of Jesse Sumner Wooley, a gifted and prolific Adirondack photographer at the turn of the twentieth century.
In 1880, Jesse Sumner Wooley, an energetic and entrepreneurial thirteen-year-old farm boy from Saratoga County, took a job as an errand boy for a pair of town photographers. The summer job led to a career that would define Wooley’s life. From that early start, he went on to become a prominent businessman and inventive photographer in Upstate New York. » Continue Reading.
The life’s work of Stephen Sulavik, The Adirondack Guideboat: Its Origins, Its Builders and Their Boats (Bauhan Publishing, 2018) provides a heavily illustrated history of the iconic Adirondack guideboat.
Stephen Sulavik was a pulmonary surgeon fascinated by the guideboats. Upon his death, his book was shepherded to publication by his friend and former Chairman of the Board of the Adirondack Museum, Robert Worth. He enlisted the help of historian Edward “Ted” Comstock and guideboat builder and expert Christopher Woodward to revise and complete the project. » Continue Reading.
Regular Adirondack Almanack contributor Paul Hetzler is the author of a new book of nature essays, Shady Characters: Plant Vampires, Caterpillar Soup, Leprechaun Trees and Other Hilarities of the Natural World (Lexingford Publishing, 2018).
Paul Hetzler knows all about nature in all its wonders, complexities, and hilarities, and weaves considerable wit with a range of wisdom. » Continue Reading.
The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society has announced “Understanding the Archaeology of the Adirondacks,” a lecture by archaeologist and author David Starbuck of Chestertown on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 8 pm, at the Hadley-Luzerne Public Library 19 Main Street, Lake Luzerne.
David Starbuck is a noted authority on the archaeology of the Adirondacks. He will share excerpts from his latest book Archaeology of the Adirondacks and discuss findings from his most recent Adirondack excavations. The book focuses on the varied material culture brought to the Adirondacks, and now found underground. » Continue Reading.
Carol Pearsall of Johnsburg, wife of local historian and author Glenn L. Pearsall, is writing a book on “buff mittens” and is looking for stories and examples.
Buff mittens differ from the modern mittens as they were tufted like a shag rug for extra warmth. They required three times the usual amount of yarn that one would use in knitting modern mittens. Often merino wool or a merino cross was used and the art of making these mittens rose and fell with the cycle of wool availability. Warm and durable, they are considered an Adirondack tradition that reached a heyday in the 1880s to early 1900s. However, a reference to buff mittens is found in the diary of Ruth Henshaw of Leicester, Massachusetts in 1803. » Continue Reading.
The winners of the 2018 Adirondack Literary Awards were recently announced at an event at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid.
Writers, readers, publishers, and friends joined for the celebration of all regional books published in 2017, as well as the announcement of the category winners. Following a welcome by Adirondack Center for Writing Executive Director Nathalie Thill, judges in each genre provided descriptions of each title submitted before announcing the year’s winners.
This years winners include: » Continue Reading.
As an author of many books and publisher (with my partner) of many others, it behooves me to keep up on the latest trends in the world of books.
This includes the ongoing question considered by many of my Adirondack friends and acquaintances who are authors: should I sell printed copies, or is it better to go digital with e-books? Or maybe a combination of the two? It’s an issue I’ve addressed here in years past, particularly in 2013 and 2014 when the e-book explosion rocked the industry, leading many experts and non-experts alike to conclude that the end for printed books was clearly in sight. » Continue Reading.
With the recent publication of Thomas G. Kane’s Ghost Guns there are now four books in the Matt O’Malley mystery thriller series.
The series also includes Desperate Hours, Desperate Days, and Kateri’s Treasure, all set in the area in and around Bolton Landing, Glens Falls, Lake George and the Adirondack Park.
Each explores a bit of local history and flavor, and considers a serious theme. The latest, Ghost Guns, deals with untraceable guns and protecting water quality, when an arms merchant seeks to use Lake George to demonstrate a powerful new chemical weapon. » Continue Reading.
Author and historian Marty Podskoch is set to give a talk on his book The Adirondack 102 Club on April 28th in Hadley. The book encourages people to visit all 102 towns and villages in the Adirondacks.
The idea for the 102 Club began after Podskoch read about Dr. Arthur Peach of Vermont, who in 1954 suggested the idea of an informal group, the Vermont 251 Club, to veer off the beaten path “to discover the secret and lovely places that main roads do not reveal.” » Continue Reading.
The Keene Valley Library Association (KVLA) has been named a 2017 Children’s Book Project Grant Award recipient by the Pilcrow Foundation. This $800 award funds the library’s acquisition of new children’s books.
The Pilcrow Foundation’s Children’s Book Project provides new, quality, hardcover books to rural public libraries. These books will become part of the permanent collection at the Keene Valley Library, which serves the Town of Keene’s 1,105 residents. » Continue Reading.
John Davis’ new book Split Rock Wildway: Scouting the Adirondack Park’s Most Diverse Wildlife Corridor (Essex Editions, 2017) is a look at some of the wildlife thriving in the wooded hills and adjacent waterways linking Lake Champlain with the High Peaks.
Davis and artist friends illustrate the ecological importance, conservation value, and natural beauty of the wildway and its many inhabitants. » Continue Reading.
The Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls has just published Water & Light: S.R. Stoddard’s Lake George, a new work on the photography of Seneca Ray Stoddard.
The 160-page book features 150 of Stoddard’s photos, as well as some samples of his painting, sketches and cartography.
As a 19th century American photographer, S. R. Stoddard is often ranked with William Henry Jackson and Carlton Watkins, and the quality of his photographic compositions is compared with many of the Hudson River School painters. It is estimated Stoddard took some ten thousand images in the Adirondack Mountains alone. » Continue Reading.
ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) has released the second edition of its hiking guide, Views from on High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills. Revised and redesigned, it includes a new chapter describing fire towers outside of both parks. The intervening years have seen what coauthor Jim Schneider refers to as “fire tower fever,” a sweeping enthusiasm that has helped prompt restoration of numerous towers and their trails.
Written by John P. (Jack) Freeman and Jim Schneider, Views from on High enables hikers, history buffs, and others fond of Adirondack and Catskill trails to visit and learn about 30 historic fire towers. Detailed trail descriptions are accompanied by numerous photographs and maps as well as an essay about these structures written by historic preservationist Wesley H. Haynes. The new chapter, Beyond the Blue Line, by tower aficionado Jacob C. (Jake) Wilde, describes 13 additional fire towers, three of them demonstration towers. » Continue Reading.
Essex resident John Davis and local artists have produced a new book showcasing the ecological importance, conservation value, and natural beauty of Split Rock Wildway.
Split Rock Wildway: Scouting the Adirondack Park’s Most Diverse Wildlife Corridor examines the wooded hills and adjacent waterways that link Lake Champlain with the Adirondack High Peaks.
Davis’s perspective is complemented with illustrations and photographs contributed by Bill Amadon, Sheri Amsel, Larry Barns, Steven Kellogg, Roderick MacIver, Larry Master, and Kevin Raines.
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