Chuck Schwerin’s novel begins in the Scottish Highlands and ends in the Adirondacks. In 1959, a young Hamish McLean climbs the mountains of his native Scotland. In 2002, McLean is the headmaster of a boarding school, Glencoe, in Lake Placid, searching the Adirondacks for three students lost ...

As I read Laura Waterman’s second memoir, “Calling Wild Places Home” (SUNY Press, 2024), my immediate reaction was gratitude that she gave us this gift. Aware of her history as a leading voice in the literature of wild places, and of her marriage to Guy, her life and writing partner, I ...

To the array of guidebooks to various aspects of, and activities in, our part of the world can now be added “Wilderness Camping in the Adirondacks” by Bill Ingersoll (Rowman and Littlefield/North Country Books, 2024). Its subtitle, “25 Backpacking and Canoeing Overnight Adventures,” ...

“Black Tides,” by Jay C. LaBarge, is the fourth Nick LaBounty adventure of the series (with a fifth currently in the works). A Tupper Lake native and graduate of Syracuse University, LaBarge spent his professional career in the technology industry but has recently turned to writing ...

Campfires encourage storytelling. If we’re fortunate, we remember scary tales that went well with the marshmallows and hot dogs we cooked while we listened. Chuck Riley has probably gone to the great campfire in the sky where hall of fame storytellers spin tales, but many years ago he made ...

Over recent years many of us have learned that New York’s North Country had long been a more ethnically diverse area than has been appreciated. Older histories that categorically denied any permanent indigenous presence have been refuted. Furthermore, plenty of evidence confirms more African ...