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 ...

The Adirondacks have generated guidebooks galore. The newest does not, for the most part, give trail information, describe summit views or tell how to find a trailhead. What it does do, in considerable and exquisite detail, is present aspects of the histories of nearly 30 specific locations, ...

In honor of Women’s History month, this week’s book review discusses “Bold and Courageous: 25 North Country New York Women and Their Exceptional Contributions” by Daniel LaDue. The author is a retired English and Spanish teacher and librarian. A Plattsburgh native, LaDue still lives ...

In 2005, environmental activist Bill McKibben wrote “Wandering Home,” a chronicle of his journey from Vermont to his Adirondack residence in Johnsburg. The optimistic subtitle of the book is “A Long Walk Across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape.” That hope is mostly gone in ...

New books keep piling up. Consequently I don’t go back and re-savor favorite novels as often as I probably should. That deficiency in my behavior became eminently clear as I reread Russell Banks’ “The Sweet Hereafter” for this review. Banks’ death just over a year ago, in January ...