The Adirondacks may be home to some of the most spectacular mountain peaks and forests in the United States, but it is also home to many literary giants who write about and document her history. Whether you prefer memoir, fiction, or history, we have a selection of five books from local authors. These will introduce you to the heart of the Adirondacks and leave you curious for more.
1. “Adirondack Kaleidoscope and North Country Characters”
You may want to start with one of the many books written by regional historian William J. O’Hern. In this book, he takes a look back at the folklore, history, and famous people who spent time in the Adirondacks. The anthology of culture, lifestyle, and seasons from pioneer days up to the 1970s shares human interest stories about everyday life, including ice harvesting, bootlegging, country schools, and old-time medicine, to name a few topics.
To write this book, O’Hern obtained a collection of publications by another regional history devotee, G. Glyndon Cole, who published the quarterly North Country Life from 1944-1974. The old magazines, carefully curated by O’Hern, serve as a scrapbook of memories shared that take readers on a journey to the past, complete with photographs.
Explore other fascinating books by O’Hern to discover stories about a famous hermit, the Indian Plains, the logging industry, campfire tales, and more here.
2. “Leaves Torn Asunder”
Local Adirondack historian Glenn Pearsall’s historical fiction novel takes a peek inside the lives of the people in the Adirondack region during the Civil War. His extensive research from letters and diaries uncovers little-known facts about farm life, especially after the men left to become soldiers and the women and children were left to tend to their homesteads. The stories are told via characters with distinctive voices and authentic dialects to capture the true spirit of the times.
So many interesting facts fill this book. Cattle were raised, but sheep proved more valuable for their wool, essential for knitting caps and mittens for sale, and socks designated for the troops. Buckwheat, not wheat, was a primary crop. Maple sugaring for syrup aided the household economy and involved hand-making the buckets out of local maple and birch instead of using metal.
In reading personal letters from a soldier, Pearsall discovered that one of them, mentioned needing a “housewife,” slang for “sewing kit.” Shakespeare recitations were popular around a campfire, along with plenty of music, especially fiddle-playing.
If you’re a history geek and want to learn more about the lives of the early settlers with a dose of Civil War mixed in, this is the book for you.
3. “The Adirondack Architecture Guide, Southern-Central Region”
A must-read for visitors to the Adirondacks is this book by Janet A. Null. She chronicles the architecture of the early settlements in the late 1700s to the present and how each man-made structure shaped the culture of the area. Null identified over 700 heritage buildings and sites for the field guide, which focuses on the settlements built around the tanneries, iron mining, and logging industries.
Over fourteen curated driving, walking, and boating tours will take you to places such as the Wakely Mountain Fire Tower, the Hamlet of Essex with Greek revival period architecture, the Great Camp Sagamore, and more. In Null’s words, “The Guide is meant to help residents and visitors alike discover the fascinating built heritage throughout the Park, appreciate its significance, and understand it in context. I hope it leads modern-day Adirondack explorers to see architecture they don’t expect and to visit places they’ve never been.”
Null is an award-winning architect living in upstate New York and has practiced throughout the Adirondack region for more than twenty-five years.
4. “Adirondack: Life and Wildlife in the Wild, Wild East”
Edward Kanze is a naturalist and licensed Adirondack guide. He is about as knowledgeable of the Adirondack wilderness and its inhabitants as it gets. His book is an entertaining memoir about Kanze and his wife Debbie. And their desire to live with nature off the beaten path. They decide to purchase a serious fixer-upper. But with the benefits of meadows, forests, and a river below on 18 acres.
To soothe the pain of restoration, Kanze and his wife decide to embark on a mission. A mission to inventory and name every single bit of wildlife on the property. This includes birds, animals, and the trees and plants living among them. They called their slice of paradise Moose Hill Farm and began their journey to establish their life here.
Kanze’s roots run deep, with his ancestors settling in the area in 1797. His grandfather providing a role model of someone enamored and respectful of his Adirondack surroundings.
Kanze’s writing rings poetic, and descriptions of people and nature are beautifully crafted. The Adirondack Center for Writing presented Kanze’s book as the winner of the 2015 Adirondack Literary Award for Best Memoir.
5. “High Places: Awe and Misadventure in the Adirondack High Peaks”
Another great memoir for hiking and climbing fans is this book by local Lynn Benevento. Her book documents a woman’s experience hiking all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks, sometimes alone and sometimes with her family. Benevento’s love of the mountains and forests is inspired by her great-grandfather. He was a fire tower observer who hiked two miles every day to get to his post on Hadley Mountain. Memories like these are woven into the book connecting her past to the present.
Written with heart in an easy conversational manner, she shares the adventures her husband and kids endured on the peaks. Despite the weather, bugs, and other hardships. Beneath it all is the story of what the mountains have taught her over the years. Deepening her respect for mother nature. Complementing her writings, are journal entries kept by her kids. As well as letters from Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all the peaks.
Benevento’s original paintings are interspersed between the pages and bring a stunning visual of the wilderness to her stories. Benevento, who earned the rank of the 6642nd person to hike all peaks. It is an artist and has a gallery in Lake Luzerne.
Go Beyond the Tourist Guides with More Literary Works from Local Authors
Whether you plan to visit the Adirondacks or are curious about the wilderness’s bold and rich history. These books will take you places beyond what you’ll find in a tourist guide. You will come away with an understanding of why the Adirondacks have long been a lure for the young and old and why the local authors have chosen to tell their tales. Bookstore Plus has many more titles featuring the literary talents of the Adirondack residents just waiting to be discovered!